Climate Briefing
Jun 17, 2026
Seventh Carbon Budget – MP briefing
Overview
By 28 June 2026, the UK government must set the Seventh Carbon Budget (7CB) as part of the UK’s action on reducing the pollution causing climate breakdown.
It is vital to get this right as it affects all our lives, including energy bills, food, job prospects, local transport, and nature.
The draft Order, Explanatory Memorandum and Impact Assessment can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2026/9780348283815
The good news
Back in 2008, the UK led in being the first country to have a Climate Change Act and five yearly carbon budgets. This has enabled the UK to make significant progress including halving our own territorial emissions from 1990 – largely by changes in our energy production in the last decade. We should celebrate this and continue to support carbon budgets.
Now, the government has said that they will commit to cutting carbon emissions by 87 percent by 2040 in the 7CB. This needs a robust climate plan, and if delivered, it would mark significant progress towards the country reaching net zero emissions by 2050. That gives real hope as it helps towards the transition towards a cleaner, greener world for current and future generations.
However, in the UK, significant action is needed to tackle the interlinked crises of climate and cost-of-living, and globally emissions need to urgently peak and then come down rapidly. While the new budget broadly continues current government action, more is needed.
Going further
The Seventh Carbon Budget is based on scientific projections that assumed the world would begin cutting pollution from 2020 immediately. This did not happen, and the pollution continues to rise, meaning all countries, including the UK, now need significantly stronger ambition. This is backed up by more recent science.
The International Court of Justice reinforced this in its landmark advisory opinion of July 2025, advising states they must act with the highest possible ambition and the latest science.
The level advised by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) in its 7CB advice does not go far enough in fulfilling international obligations and the Climate Change Act 2008 duty to have regard to scientific knowledge about climate change.
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) concluded that UK climate credibility depends on meeting the government’s obligations in this area and asked the government to set out clearly how the 7CB does this.
By not making this budget ambitious enough, the government is missing an opportunity to be a world climate leader and put measures in place that would deliver the transformation the UK needs.
The budget also has a dangerous emphasis on speculative technologies like carbon capture and storage, to make the numbers add up, despite growing evidence that they are highly risky and not financially viable.
For further information on the science behind our arguments, please see Carbon Reckoning’s letter to Ed Miliband: https://tinyurl.com/CR-2-DESNZ
The case for change
If this budget were more ambitious, it could become a powerful lever for change, including:
Driving mass investment in insulation, heat pumps, and rooftop solar – leading to warmer homes, lower bills, and an end to fuel poverty
Creating thousands of skilled, well-paid jobs in every constituency
Delivering real investment in public transport
Protecting nature that is under growing pressure from a destabilising climate
Providing food security
How carbon budgets are set is a political choice. It is about the kind of economy we want to build, the kind of society we want to live in, and the world we intend to leave to the next generation.
About us
Carbon Reckoning is a science-based group committed to alignment of UK climate policy with the latest science and international obligations. We are exploring the possibility of a legal case to hold the government to account for delivering strong climate action.
MP Watch works alongside MPs and communities to champion evidence-based climate and nature policies. By building partnerships between proactive politicians and engaged citizens, we drive real, lasting change for a healthier planet and a liveable future.
Quakers in Britain are a faith group committed to equality, peace, truth and sustainability. This leads us to campaign for truthful communication and decisive positive action on the climate crisis.
If you would like to discuss anything further, please contact:
Andrew Boswell, Carbon Reckoning (carbonreckoning@fastmail.co.uk)
Grace Da Costa, Quakers in Britain (graced@quaker.org.uk)
MP Watch (contact@mpwatch.org)