Greenhouse gas emissions fell by a tenth in 2020 as Covid lockdown restrictions cut pollution from traffic, industry and energy supplies, official figures show.
Pollutants which drive climate change had fallen by half (49.7%) between the baseline year of 1990 and 2020 – which marks the half-way point for the target to reach zero emissions overall, known as “net zero”, by 2050.
In 2020, emissions were estimated to be nearly 406 million tonnes, a drop of 9.5% from 448 million tonnes in 2019, and compared to 806 million tonnes in 1990.
