THE government suffered another embarrassing defeat at the High Court today over its climate change decision-making.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero acted unlawfully when approving its plan to meet targets running until 2037 as part of a strategy to achieve net zero by 2050, the court ruled.
Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and the Good Law Project brought the case, arguing that then secretary of state Grant Shapps lacked the necessary information on whether individual policies could be delivered in full when he approved the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP) in March 2023.
Mr Justice Sheldon ruled in their favour, finding that Mr Shapps’s decision was “simply not justified by the evidence” and was made “on the assumption that each of the proposals and policies would be delivered in full — the basis of a mistaken understanding of the true factual position.”
Mr Justice Sheldon rejected the government’s claims that Mr Shapps had “sufficient information which rationally supported” his decision, as the minister “could not evaluate for himself” which policies in the CBDP would fail and which would be delivered based on the information provided.
The ruling marks a second High Court victory for the three groups against the government over its climate policies.
In 2022, a different judge ruled the government’s Net Zero Strategy was unlawful as ministers were not properly briefed on how individual policies would help meet climate targets as required by the 2008 Climate Change Act.
Friends of the Earth lawyer Katie de Kauwe said: “This is another embarrassing defeat for the government and its reckless and inadequate climate plans.”
Sam Hunter Jones, for ClientEarth, added: “The courts have now told the UK government not once, but twice that its climate strategy is not fit for purpose.”
Good Law Project legal director Emma Dearnaley said the ruling showed “the law is our best, and often last, line of defence against a government that is failing to act as it must to address the climate emergency.”
The energy department said the claims in the case were largely about process and that it will publish a new report on the CBDP within 12 months following the judge’s decision.
On Thursday, presenter and wildlife campaigner Chris Packham and the government’s former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, warned against Gatwick Airport’s expansion plans as part of a six-month-long inquiry by the Planning Inspectorate.
