There is no single piece of legislation formally known as the UK’s “carbon law”. The principal legislation governing the UK’s national greenhouse gas reduction targets is the Climate Change Act 2008.
The Act was amended in 2019 so that the UK’s net carbon account for 2050 must be at least 100% below the 1990 baseline, commonly referred to as the UK’s legally binding net-zero target. It also requires the government to set five-year carbon budgets that limit the amount of greenhouse gases the UK can emit. In 2026, the seventh carbon budget was set at 535 million tonnes of CO2e for 2038 to 2042.
The Climate Change Act does not mean that every individual business has a direct legal obligation to become net zero by 2050. Business obligations instead depend on factors such as size, sector and activities. Relevant requirements can include the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR), Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) and the Climate Change Levy.
