UK greenhouse gases fall again – as renewable electricity hits 50% for the first time
UK greenhouse gas emissions fell by 3.5% last year compared with 2023, according to provisional government figures.
The Energy Department (DESNZ) said climate-warming emissions generated in the UK were 371.4 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2024.
That’s down from 385 million tonnes in 2023 and 406 million tonnes in 2022.
The latest figure is 54% lower than in 1990.
As a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the UK is aiming to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030 and 81% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels.
The aim is to get to net-zero by 2050, meaning Britain would no longer be adding to the total amount of gases in the atmosphere.
DESNZ said the fall was largely due to reductions from the electricity supply and industry sectors, which made up 10% and 13% of emissions respectively.
Electricity supply drove the largest share of the reduction, as more electricity imports and increased renewable generation led to lower gas and coal use in power stations.
The UK’s last coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, actually closed at the end of September.
Domestic transport was the biggest emitter in 2024, added DESNZ, making up 30% of total emissions. However, it was down 1.5% on the previous year.
Emissions in the building and product use sector – already the UK’s second-largest emitter, making up 21% of the total – increased by 2.3%.
Notably, last year was a record for renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar.
It was the source of 50.8% of the UK’s electricity in 2024, up from 46.4%, according to DESNZ.
It’s the first year renewables have exceeded 50%.
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UK’s last coal-fired power station closes
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Jane Cooper, RenewableUK’s deputy chief executive, said: “These new figures show the pace at which our energy system is changing, benefiting billpayers and the climate.
“The UK is moving away rapidly from fossil fuels to low-cost renewables which bring down consumer bills, with wind providing the bulk of our clean power.”
Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s policy director, said it showed “the UK’s efforts to tackle climate change are working”.
However, he said that “while emissions are falling, we’re still very much dependent on expensive and polluting gas for our energy”.
“The government must put a stop to the great gas rip-off and rapidly make renewables the backbone of our energy system to lower our bills for good,” Mr Parr added.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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