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The Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, Claire Perry MP, has announced that the Government will ask the Committee on Climate Change to provide new advice on the implications of the 2015 Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The request to the Committee is likely to be made following the publication of a special report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due out in October. The IPCC report will assess the impacts of 1.5°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels and related emissions pathways, following the higher level of ambition set out in the Paris Agreement.

In response to Claire Perry’s announcement, Lord Deben, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), said:

“This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Climate Change Act, a pioneering piece of legislation that put the UK at the forefront of global efforts to tackle climate change. It is timely that the UK Government is again considering the UK’s leadership on global emissions reduction. I welcome Claire Perry’s announcement that she will seek the advice of the CCC on the implications of the Paris Agreement on the UK’s long-term emissions targets. It responds quickly to the Committee’s recommendation in January that this advice should be sought.”

The CCC previously stated that, after the IPCC’s forthcoming report on 1.5C is published, the Government should request further advice from the Committee on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions targets.