PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer has committed to an “ambitious” climate target of cutting Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions by 81 per cent by 2035.

Sir Keir unveiled the cut at UN Cop29 talks in Azerbaijan today and is in line with the recommendation from independent advisers the Climate Change Committee (CCC), as well as with existing legally binding domestic targets.

This target forms Britain’s latest nationally determined contribution (NDC), a commitment countries make to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change.

Climate campaigners welcomed the move but urged the government to do more to tackle fossil fuels.

Izzie McIntosh, climate campaign manager at Global Justice Now, said: “Making our emission reduction targets more ambitious is a step in the right direction. 

“If Starmer is serious about climate action, however, his government needs to move further and faster to tackle the root cause of emissions: fossil fuels. 

“This can’t be done with business as usual, or by luxuriating in fantasies of carbon capture and other experimental technologies holding the key.”

During energy questions in the Commons, Tory shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho told MPs the cut would cause “hardship” for British people.

She claimed the goal would require a “shift away from meat and dairy” and “less travel.”

Labour’s Energy Minister Michael Shanks claimed it “wouldn’t be difficult” to outmatch the Conservatives on the transition to renewable energy.

He said: “The reason people right across this country are paying more on their energy bills is because the party opposite didn’t get us off the rollercoaster of the fossil-fuel market. 

“We’re now moving at pace.”