Ace Environment News Desk – COP31: What it is & the what it is UK’s Priorities: The UK government has rejected western Europe’s biggest solar power project, “citing its impact on the green belt and the loss of agricultural land” says the Times

It continues: “The surprise refusal of the £850m Botley West solar farm in Oxfordshire comes just weeks after the £2.1bn Jackdaw gas field was approved and days before Andy Burnham is due to address the COP31 climate summit in Turkey. The decision was made by Baroness Curran, a junior energy minister, on behalf of Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary.

Elsewhere, Burnham faces a “cabinet split over plans to water down electric car targets”, says the Times. It continues: “The energy secretary is poised to make a last-ditch attempt to prevent the government from easing the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which stipulates how many electric cars must be sold each year.

Decisions made at COP31 this year will help the UK and other countries to: 

• work towards agreed commitments on global warming – including limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°C 
• move towards more clean, reliable energy and away from reliance on fossil fuels 
• adapt to and protect people from the effects of climate change, and improve our resilience to climate shocks 
• create jobs and economic opportunities through clean energy and electrification

What is the UK doing to tackle climate change?  

The UK has already cut its carbon emissions by 54% since 1990, while the economy has grown by around 85% in that time. 

This has been achieved by moving towards cleaner sources of electricity like offshore and onshore wind, solar and nuclear. 

The UK has also cut emissions from areas such as industry, transport and heating.   

Examples of Britain’s progress include: 

• The UK was the first G7 country to stop using coal to produce electricity. The country’s last coal-fired power station, at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, closed in September 2024 
• Electric vehicle sales are rising year-on-year, supported by government funding. Around 2 million electric vehicles are now registered on UK roads
• Heat pump sales reached over 100,000 in 2025. There were also 269,000 solar panel installations in 2025 – the highest number recorded in a single year
• In 2008, the UK became the first country to set legally binding limits on its carbon emissions through the Climate Change Act. These limits are known as carbon budgets. The UK has met its first 3 carbon budgets so far
• The UK was the first major economy to establish a net zero target into law. Since 2008, 60 other countries have put in place their own climate laws  

Our latest Climate Finance commitment, ICF4, pledges around £6 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) over the next 3 years, alongside £6.7 billion in public finance through UK-backed climate and nature-positive non-ODA investments, and an ambition to use our public finance to catalyse billions more from the private sector.

Stories also covered in BBC News, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph.

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