The UK's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025, reaching their lowest level in over 150 years, according to Carbon Brief analysis. This achievement is largely attributed to a 34-year low in gas use, a 400-year low in coal use, and a 1.5% drop in gas use to its lowest level since 1992. The end of coal power in late 2024 and a slowdown in the steel industry also contributed significantly. These factors, combined with record-high UK temperatures and elevated gas prices, have led to a 2.4% fall in emissions, which is only slightly more than half of the 15MtCO2e cut needed each year until 2050 to meet the UK's legally binding net-zero target. The UK's emissions are now 54% below 1990 levels, while its GDP has nearly doubled. The territorial emissions have fallen in 27 out of 36 years since 1990, with a 9MtCO2e reduction in 2025 taking emissions down to 364MtCO2e. This is the lowest since 1872, and below the level seen during the 1926 general strike. The UK's emissions are now at sustained lows not seen since Victorian times. The analysis highlights the importance of continued emissions reduction to meet the UK's legal climate goals and the Paris Agreement's net-zero target. The key drivers of emissions reduction in 2025 were the dramatic declines in coal and gas use, with coal demand falling by 56% and gas use by 1.5%. The end of coal power and a slowdown in steel production contributed significantly to these declines. The UK saw record generation from renewable sources, particularly wind and solar, but a further decline in nuclear generation meant that gas-fired power output also rose slightly. In the transport sector, demand for oil fell by 0.9%, helped by the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), with 700,000 new EVs in 2025 alone saving nearly 2MtCO2. However, despite falling demand for oil-derived fuels, Carbon Brief estimates that oil-related emissions increased by 0.2% in 2025 due to a shift in the amount and type of biofuel blended into diesel and petrol. The UK's coal use has fallen dramatically over the past decade, with demand dropping to just under 1m tonnes in 2025, down 97% from 2015. The UK's last coal-fired power plant closed down in September 2024, contributing nearly three-fifths of the fall in demand for coal in 2025. The slowdown in coal-based steel production accounts for around a third of the decline in UK coal use in 2025. The UK's gas use has also fallen dramatically over the past 15 years, with demand now similar to when the UK began its 'dash for gas' in the early 1990s. The 1.5% reduction in gas use in 2025 was caused by lower demand for building heat and industrial users. The UK's fleet of EVs is already having a significant impact on emissions, with drivers saving a total of £2m in lower fuel costs in 2025. However, domestic heat pump sales remain at relatively low levels, particularly compared to other European nations. The UK's emissions continue to decouple from growth, with GDP nearly doubling while emissions fell by 54% below 1990 levels. The majority of emissions cuts have come in the power sector, with coal phased out and renewables replacing gas. The rise of EVs is set to make transport the largest source of emissions cuts from now until 2040, according to the Climate Change Committee. Despite progress, the UK has a long way to go to meet its climate goals, including the yet-to-be-legislated seventh 'carbon budget' and the 2050 net-zero target. Emissions would need to fall by 15MtCO2e each year until 2050 to meet the net-zero target, and by 22MtCO2e per year to meet the UK's 2035 international pledge under the Paris Agreement. The methodology used by Carbon Brief involves combining preliminary government estimates of energy use by fuel with conversion factors for CO2 emissions per unit of energy. This approach has accurately estimated year-to-year changes in emissions in previous years, but it is subject to uncertainty due to the provisional nature of energy use data and the methodology used for government estimates.
