In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to legislate a net zero greenhouse gas emission limit by 2050. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this means that there is an equivalent amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere as there is being removed post-2050. This was a landmark change advised by the UK’s Climate Change Committee and part of the UK’s commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to less than 2°C . This new policy which calls for a greenhouse gas emission reduction of 100% is a further development on the 2008 Climate Change Act which held the UK accountable for reducing the risk of climate change and bringing carbon emissions to a reduction of 80% by 2050. These reduction strategies for working towards this goal are outlined in the Ten Point Plan (2020) and Net Zero Strategy (2021) which are calling for a Green Industrial Revolution. The goal of these plans are not only to reach net zero, but also reinvigorate the UK’s economy through creating green jobs. Through the following policies, the UK plans to remove 180 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from 2023 to 2032.
1. Advancing Offshore Wind 
Offshore wind is an extremely efficient form of energy generation with the potential to generate 11 times the world energy demand, but it currently provides less than 5% of the world’s energy. In the UK, about 20% of energy is supplied by wind farms and this number will hopefully increase. The UK currently has over 2000 wind farms and hopes to create 22 new floating wind farms by 2030. Regular anchored wind farms can cause disturbances to marine ecosystems and often act as breeding ground for invasive species. In contrast, floating wind farms are untethered from the seabed which makes them less disruptive and can even work in coherence with seaweed farms. This initiative will hopefully create 60,000 new jobs and 40 GW of energy.
2. Driving the Growth of Low Carbon Hydrogen 
The industrial sector is an incredibly hard sector to decarbonise, but a focus on hydrogen energy in place of natural gas may be key to finding greener ways to power those industries. Because hydrogen energy is not commonly used in many places yet, not just the UK, it can be blended with natural gas, so it can be used in infrastructures that are already in place. There are also initiatives to use hydrogen in the heating system of homes which will help combat the use of fossil fuels for heating and hopefully drive down the price of heating by diversifying the market. As it stands, generating and storing hydrogen is very expensive which is why it is important that more research goes into it.
3. Delivering New and Advanced Nuclear Power 
The UK currently has nine operating nuclear power plants and hopes to open 8 new ones with hundreds of millions of pounds invested into their development. This is the equivalent of generating enough power for 6 million homes. The UK government is investing a portion of this money into smaller scale reactors that can be used for on-site generators which will also help decarbonise the industrial sector. The largest downside to nuclear development is the risk of a meltdown. Despite this, the investments will hopefully make the UK a lead developer in nuclear energy and create a peak of 10,000 jobs.
4. Accelerating the Shift to Zero Emission Vehicles 
By 2030, the UK will stop the sale of new fully petrol and diesel cars and vans. This is a very significant transition that will be supported by 1.3 billion pounds of investment to create new charging infrastructures. There will also be a new tax system on fully diesel cars and vans which will be reinvested into the uptake of electric vehicles. This is all in hopes of reducing the carbon emissions of the transport sector which is the UK’s largest emitting sector with road emissions making up 91% of emissions. This is a decision that will quickly and directly affect consumers with the potential to reduce emissions by 300 million tonnes of carbon by 2050.
5. Green Public Transport, Cycling and Walking 
Along with zero emission vehicles, 9.2 billion pounds will be invented in renewing and electrifying public buses and railways. There will also be rail expansions around Manchester, Birmingham, and Leed as part of the Midlands Rail Hub Scheme. Investments will also be made into extending cycle lanes and increasing walking paths around schools with hopes of over 1000 miles of cycling and walking paths input by next year. Part of these transformations also rely on the public using them, so it is important to be critical of what kind of transport you choose to use.
6. Jet Zero and Green Ships 
Achieving sustainability in the aviation and maritime sectors is still a largely R&D-focused effort. These are als sectors that are, as it stands, hard to decarbonise which is why the UK has established the Jet Zero Council and the Clean Maritime Demonstration Programme. They are also supporting the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels which means creating a blend of standard fuels with more sustainable ones and possibly looking towards hydrogen fuel cells as the power source for planes. Blend fuels still run the risk of environmental harm by overfarming for biofuels and the overall investments are not producing developments fast enough.
7. Greener Buildings 
New buildings in the UK will be fitted with greener heating systems including electric and hydrogen heating. Older buildings are included in the goal with the extension of the Green Home Grants which allows homes without gas boilers to receive energy efficient heating systems. Energy efficiency standards will be raised for landlords and household products which drives down prices for tenants and consumers. This is incredibly important as heating becomes more expensive.
8. Investing in Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage 
The UK intends to use a type of carbon capture technology which would remove carbon dioxide from the outputs of industrial Superplaces and store them underground in the North Sea where they cannot breach the atmosphere. This is a relatively new venture, but will be incredibly helpful in decarbonising the industrial sector, removing around 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. However, carbon capture techniques like this are understudied and may be overestimating their realistic success. They also promote the continuous irresponsible use of fossil fuels by making it appear as though its consequences can be entirely mitigated by this process.
9. Protecting Our Natural Environment 
The transition to net zero would not be complete without protections for the environment in which we all live. The National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty classification allows for areas of this stature to receive more protection and preservation efforts. These efforts also extend to restoration initiatives with a 40 million pound investment to the Green Recovery Challenge fund which will help those with green jobs in these sectors keep their jobs. In addition to conservation and restoration jobs, farming will also undergo the Environmental Land Management Scheme to make land use more sustainable, protected, and farming more energy efficient. This is a more bottom-up approach which gives farmers more autonomy in their land-use decision making.
10. Green Finance and Innovation 
All of these previous nine points do not function without further investment into R&D. A 1 billion pound Net Zero Investment Portfolio has been created with funds allocated to each of the technologies in the Ten Point Plan. 100 million pounds of this has already been invested into carbon capture and another 100 million in improving renewable energy storage. This investment also helps put the UK at the forefront of new emerging sustainable markets.