United Kingdom

1. Introduction

Climate change remains one of the most complex issues of our time, affecting almost every aspect of our lives. In recent years, there have been growing calls for climate change to be seen as an issue of justice. This is due to the fact that marginalised communities such as women, indigenous groups, and people of colour often face the worst consequences of climate change when they are often the least responsible. These groups might be further disadvantaged by responses to climate change that do not take existing inequalities into account, in a process known as the ‘triple injustices’ of climate change. In order to counteract this, it is necessary to assess countries' policies and commitments to ensure that they are fair and just. This report will examine the UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) through a gender lens in order to assess how women and youth are being incorporated into climate planning.

2. Emissions

The UK Government submitted its first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC in December 2020. This is the first NDC submitted by the UK since they left the European Union (EU). The NDC commits the UK to a goal of at least a 68% emissions reduction below 1990 levels by 2030. This represents a significant strengthening of its previous 57% target (EU target) and is aligned with the UK’s 2050 net-zero emissions target. The UK has also stated that this target will not be achieved through the use of international carbon credits. This makes the UK one of the first countries globally to bring its domestic ambitions in line with what would be necessary for the 1.5°C Paris Agreement limit. 

There is some suggestion that the UK target could have been more ambitious as research sponsored by WWF and Imperial College London suggested a cut of 72% would have been economically feasible (WWF, 2020). Indeed, the UK’s target does not include emissions from Crown Dependencies or Overseas Territories, which represent about 1% of the UK’s emissions. Emissions from International Aviation and Shipping are also not included in the scope of this NDC. Instead, the NDC merely reaffirms the UK’s support of emissions reduction through action under the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation. Although not mentioned in the NDC, the UK has now elected to include its share of international aviation and shipping emissions in its sixth Carbon Budget announced in April 2021 (DEFRA, 2021). This could bring the UK more than three-quarters of the way to net-zero by 2050 (GOVUK, 2021). However, COVID-19 has been a setback for the UK economy and many of the UK’s commitments to ‘build back greener’ have not been matched by strong action. In fact, British Airways, EasyJet, Wizz Air, and Ryanair all received bailouts from the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (Guardian, 2020). These companies alone have taken $1.8 billion in lending as of June last year. COVID-19 could be a time for transformative action rather than continuing with business as usual but the time to act is now. As the UK has a history of high emissions, this ambition is really important, both politically and in terms of justice. 

So far the UK has successfully achieved both its first and second carbon budget and is on track to outperform its third which ends in 2022. However, current emissions reductions have largely been achieved solely through decarbonisation of the energy sector. In order to rectify this ambition gap, the UK unveiled a 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution (GOVUK, 2020). Targets include a 2030 ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars and increased investment in offshore wind. These kinds of commitments are necessary across all UK industry sectors. This is acknowledged in the NDC which commits the UK to continue to develop further policies over time. It remains to be seen if these policies will bring the UK in line with its ambitious target. In addition, although the UK has committed to ambitious domestic emissions reductions the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) advises that additional emissions reductions abroad will be required for the UK to achieve a fully 1.5 fair share contribution. The CCC suggests that this NDC should be accompanied by greater support for climate finance, particularly for developing countries. This does not seem to have been taken up by the UK government which has recently cut foreign aid from 0.7% of GDP to 0.5%, presenting a worrying precedent in an era of necessary climate action. The impact of this cut is currently hard to quantify as detailed information has not yet been made available. However, some charities and UN agencies have already spoken out against them. The UN family planning agency (UNFPA) could lose up to 85% of its funding from the UK, a drop of about £130 million. "These cuts will be devastating for women and girls and their families across the world," the UNFPA said in a statement (BBC, 2021).

3. Gender

In relation to gender, the UK NDC is light on details as women and girls are rarely mentioned explicitly. Where women are mentioned the wording is vague and non-committal, for example on page 11, the NDC states that the UK is; “dedicated to promoting equality and inclusion including women’s empowerment and gender equality”. There are some specific targets in relation to women for example enhancing diversity, gender equality, and women’s participation in the offshore wind and nuclear sectors. However, this is supporting a relatively small proportion of women across the UK. In terms of policy, the UK commits to supporting gender balance programmes in physics and computing to increase science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) uptake amongst girls. The UK already provides funds to the Institute of Physics to deliver Gender Balance Research trials. This has resulted in a 31% increase in girls' entries to STEM A-Levels since 2010 (GOVUK, 2021). The UK also reaffirms its responsibilities as set out under the UK Equality Act (2010) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Although these commitments are a step in the right direction women are not incorporated throughout the NDC in intersection with all climate action. The NDC appears to set out relatively vague promises and puts forth disparate policies for gender in climate action rather than creating a robust plan. There is little indication of how women's voices will be amplified moving forward or how the UK plans to support wider gender equality goals. Inequality is still rife in the UK with women bearing the brunt of caring, housework, and also homeschooling responsibilities during the pandemic. During the first national lockdown, those in low-paid work were twice as likely to be on furlough or have their hours reduced as those in higher-income jobs. This hit women hardest as there are twice as many women as men in the bottom 10% of earners (House of Lords, 2021). These kinds of disparities will only be heightened by climate change and thus it is crucial that our climate action is not gender-neutral. This is not to say that women are somehow the ‘victims’ of climate change, they are showing incredible resilience and leadership but there is a need for structural changes to support this.

One issue with this NDC is the lack of transparency, particularly surrounding authorship. The UK NDC was a collaborative project by several governmental organisations along with the committee on climate change. This makes it difficult to assess how women were included in the planning process. Procedural justice is a crucial component of climate justice without which we cannot hope to achieve a more gender-just climate future.

A further issue is the lack of acknowledgement of intersectional concerns such as race and class which are rarely if ever mentioned throughout the NDC. For example, the NDC mentions air pollution but fails to acknowledge the disparity in who is worst impacted. For example, London’s Black communities were disproportionately exposed to higher illegal nitrogen dioxide levels (Guardian, 2016). There has been some suggestion that this higher level of air pollution is one of the reasons why there are higher death rates from coronavirus among minority ethnic groups (Guardian, 2020). In addition, food security is mentioned in relation to the phasing out of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) yet again, intersectional concerns surrounding gender, class, and race are not mentioned.  For example, in the UK 19% of black households experience high levels of household food insecurity compared to only 8% of the general population (Cooper, 2021). These kinds of disparities need to be specifically addressed by the NDC, rather than merely a technical focus on HFCs. 

4. Youth

Intergenerational equity includes the need to support both current young people along with future generations yet, it is rarely explicitly mentioned in the UK NDC. Where youth is mentioned it tends to be in relation to capacity building. Here, education is highlighted as a crucial point of action. For example, the UK recently unveiled a new education course on climate science for 16-18 year olds which is reaffirmed in this NDC. More specifically, in Scotland, there is a commitment to incorporate cross-cutting themes of ‘Learning for Sustainability’ in the national curriculum. This would bring together sustainable development education, global citizenship, and outdoor learning. This is crucial as currently climate change teaching is restricted to only a few subjects such as biology. 

Young people's unprecedented outrage around the world shows they are able to hold decision-makers accountable. As such, young people are not only victims of climate change but also valuable contributors to climate action (UN, 2020). The UK is beginning to realise the power of young leaders as Alok Sharma (the UK COP President) recently announced the establishment of the Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council to help shape COP26 (Alok Sharma, 2021). This will involve working with Italy to host 400 young delegates from around the world at the Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition event in Milan this September. Here, they will develop a declaration to be given to ministers attending Pre-COP. In the same speech, the UK reaffirmed its support of the sixteenth Conference of Youth, organised by the official youth group of the UNFCCC. This suggests that youth are increasingly being seen as crucial components of climate action in the UK. This is important as so far youth have led the charge on climate action in the UK particularly through student strikes and campaigns. The government can show they are listening to youth by backing up their ambitious emissions targets with strong action that supports future generations.

5. Civil Society Inclusion

The UK NDC claims to rely on a range of evidence including experts and civil society. To achieve this, the UK has run public calls for evidence, roundtables, and workshops with NGOs, industry stakeholders, and trade associations. The UK CCC which informs the NDC has held more than 200 meetings with individual stakeholders across all sectors. Activist groups have also been crucial and pressure from Extinction Rebellion even resulted in the formation of a ‘citizens assembly’ on climate change in 2019 (XR, 2019). This involved a group of 110 citizens representing the general population. As stated above, a youth and civil society council has recently been formulated to amplify the public's voices. These commitments to the inclusion of civil society are commendable yet it is hard to find specific details on how these are incorporated and which ideas are prioritised. In order to move forward with a just climate regime, there is a requirement for more transparency throughout the NDC planning process. 

5. Conclusion

The UK NDC represents one of the most ambitious climate pledges across the globe. However, closer inspection reveals these emissions targets do not align with intersectional environmental concerns. Although women are referred to in the NDC, this is mainly in relation to disparate policies rather than an overarching plan. If women are not included at every stage of the policy process, there is a danger that inequalities will continue or even be deepened. 

6. References Cited

• DEFRA, 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-enshrines-new-target-in-law-to-slash-emissions-by-78-by-2035

• WWF, 2020 https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/cop26-climate-target-cut-emissions

• Guardian, 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/04/airlines-and-carmakers-benefit-from-uk-covid-relief-scheme

• GOVUK, 2021 https://dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/02/11/women-in-stem-week-2021-how-were-empowering-the-next-generation/

• House of Lords, 2021 https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/covid-19-empowering-women-in-the-recovery-from-the-impact-of-the-pandemic/

• UN, 2020 https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/youth-in-action

• Alok Sharma, 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/cop26-president-all-over-the-planet-young-people-are-leading-the-charge-against-climate-change

• XR, 2019 https://extinctionrebellion.uk/go-beyond-politics/citizens-assembly/

• BBC, 2021 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57362816

• Guardian, 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/07/omission-of-air-pollution-from-report-on-covid-19-and-race-astonishing

• Cooper, 2021 https://www.church-poverty.org.uk/food-insecurity-now-we-have-the-data-its-time-to-act/

• GOVUK 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-enshrines-new-target-in-law-to-slash-emissions-by-78-by-2035

• GOVUK 2020 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution