UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Ruth Knox and Julian Wolfgramm-King, Paul Hastings LLP
1. Multilateral and Regional Regimes 1.1 Multilateral Climate Change Legal Regime The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the “UK”) is a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (signed 12 June 1992; ratified 8 December 1993) and the key agreements under the UNFCCC, including the Paris Agreement (26 April 2016; ratified 18 November 2016). The UK has played a significant role in the UNFCCC negotiations over the years, primarily as part of the EU bloc. The UK was also one of the first nations to commit to reducing national climate change-inducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) under law, through the Climate Change Act 2008 (see 1.2 Regional Cli- mate Change Legal Regimes ) and it was the first G20 nation to halve emissions in 2023 compared to 1990 levels. At COP30, it pushed for several mitigation and adaptation measures. Mitigation At COP 30, the UK championed to work with others on the following initiatives. • Tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency globally by 2030, including through the Global Clean Power Alliance. • In providing an updated ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2035 to reduce GHG emissions by at least 81% compared to 1990 levels for the UK, to assess the 2035 NDCs submit - ted by countries and determine how to close the gap. • Halting and reversing forest loss by 2030 includ - ing through its role as co-chair of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership. • Scaling up finance to fulfil the COP29 call for USD1.3 trillion for developing nations climate action by 2035 (see Climate finance below). Adaptation At COP 30, the UK also championed to work with others on finalising global indicators to measure adap - tation through the Global Goal on Adaptation and to accelerate the development and implementation of National Adaptation Plans.
Climate finance The UK seeks to deliver on its commitments under the Paris Agreement to help developing nations through the UK International Climate Finance (UK ICF). In the UK’s Biennial Finance Communication to the UNF - CCC submitted in December 2024, the UK pledged to increase its UK ICF contribution from GBP5.8 bil - lion over the 2015 to 2021 period to GBP11.6 billion over the 2021 to 2026 period. In March 2026, the UK government announced that by 2027 it would reduce spending on development assistance in favour of increasing spending on defence in the face of grow - ing global security threats. The UK also co-chairs the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance which has published a set of Princi - ples and Recommendations to underpin how climate finance providers and recipients might access and use climate finance more effectively. The UK did not commit funds to the Tropical Forests Forever Initiative led by Brazil to financially incentiv - ise forest rich countries to continue to preserve their forests. Capacity-building The Glasgow Climate Pact (established during COP26) included a call for increased grant-based cli - mate finance. Funded by the UK ICF, the UK’s Part - nering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) aims to improve the capacity of key public, private and civil society institutions to reduce emissions. It oper - ates in countries with high emissions and the potential for high emissions reductions. As at March 2026, the programme had spent ~GBP51m from a budget of GBP150m and is due to end in April 2027. The UK has also signed and ratified the following cli - mate-related conventions. • Convention on Biodiversity (signed 12 June 1996; ratified 3 June 1996), under which the strategic action plan, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodi - versity Framework (GBF), was adopted in 2022. This framework sets non-binding objectives to halt biodiversity loss by 2030, to increase natu - ral ecosystems by 2050, to stop human-induced
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