In 2024, the UK’s greenhouse-gas emissions edged down by just 0.5% to 476 Mt CO₂e, marking a 43.3% reduction since 1990 levels. While this continues the long-term trend of decline, the modest scale of the drop highlights persistent structural challenges in achieving deeper cuts. The data reveal diverging sector-level patterns: the manufacturing sector achieved a strong year with a 7.4% decline in emissions, from 70 Mt to 65 Mt CO₂e, helping drive the modest overall reduction. In contrast, transport emissions rose 4.5% to 77 Mt CO₂e, driven by increased travel demand and slow-moving vehicle-efficiency gains. Meanwhile, household emissions climbed 1.7%, the first increase since 2021, largely driven by a 4.1% rise in natural-gas use for home-heating. Household consumption remains the largest single source of UK greenhouse emissions at 26% of the total, followed by transport at 16.1%. Efficiency improved slightly, with emissions intensity falling from 0.16 to 0.15 thousand tons CO₂e per £ million of gross value added, but that alone may not be enough to offset rising energy use and transport demand.

The mixed results arrive ahead of the COP30 climate conference, placing fresh pressure on UK policymakers. While industry and power-generation sectors are decarbonizing further, the rebound in household and transport emissions reveals that consumption-based burdens are less responsive to high-level policy. Analysts point out that the real-world challenge now is shifting from energy supply to demand, circular economy and behavioral reforms, especially given that the UK economy continues to operate in a largely linear, resource-intensive way. With the manufacturing drop showing what deeper structural change can achieve, the rise in household energy use flags that good progress on one front can be undermined by mounting emissions elsewhere.

In short, the UK remains on the downward emissions trajectory but is facing growing headwinds. The modest drop in total emissions masks significant resistance from the transport and household sectors. If the UK is to meet its mid-century net-zero ambitions, the next phase of policy must tackle the everyday sources of emissions and unlock transitions in how people travel, heat their homes and consume resources.

Source:

https://esgnews.com/uk-emissions-fall-slightly-in-2024-as-household-energy-use-rises-ahead-of-cop30/