The government has been beaten in court for the second time by campaigners who said its plans to cut emissions and reach climate targets were coming up short.
The government’s plan to meet climate targets and green the economy has been ruled unlawful by the High Court.
The campaigning groups that brought the case had argued it relied too much on risky technologies and glossed over the risk of missing targets.
Judge Clive Sheldon upheld four out of the five grounds in the legal challenge.
Today ministers agreed to publish a new report within 12 months to comply with the ruling, but said the overarching plan had not been criticised and will remain government policy.
Katie de Kauwe, lawyer for one of the groups Friends of the Earth, called it an “embarrassing defeat for the government and its reckless and inadequate climate plans”.
She added: “Cutting emissions isn’t only essential to avert the worst of climate breakdown, it will create long-term jobs in green industries of the future, boost energy security, bring down our bills and end our reliance on costly fossil fuels.”
Labour’s shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband called it a “new low”.
news.sky.com/story/governments-climate-plan-ruled-unlawful-by-high-court-13127958