Climate activists launch legal challenge against government Covid 'green recovery' plans

An environmental law group has launched a legal challenge to the government's plans for a UK "green recovery" from the coronavirus pandemic.

Campaign group Plan B, best known for its successful legal challenge against a Heathrow third runway, submitted a "pre-action" letter to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak on Tuesday.

The chancellor has set out £3 billion of "green spending", focussing on improving energy efficiency around the country.

But some other European governments have committed greater sums to emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic into a less polluting society.

And Plan B, along with many environmental groups, have said the government's plans are outweighed by billions of pounds committed to propping up airlines and car manufacturers, and funds for fossil fuels, as part of the recovery.

In the letter, the group argues that the government's current proposals are "unlawful" because they will in effect mean the UK does not meet its long term requirements to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Boris Johnson and his cabinet have said they will get the UK a green recovery (Getty Images)

The letter argues that the current plans do not align with the "net zero" target in the climate change act, and will end up seeing the UK breach a commitment to the Paris Agreement temperature limit of "well below" two degrees celsius.

Plan B director, Tim Crosland, said the government is "locking us into the path to climate breakdown".

He said: “The Government can either follow the scientific and economic advice and take a decisive step towards a cleaner, fairer and more sustainable economy, creating vast number of new jobs; or it can ignore that advice by prioritising its corporate sponsors and locking us into the path to climate breakdown and a future that is grim beyond words."

He added: "We can't let that happen."

The letter quotes an opinion piece published in the Guardian by the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, his predecessor Mark Carney, and counterparts from France and the Netherlands.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced £3bn of

The excerpt reads: “We have a choice: rebuild the old economy, locking in temperature increases of 4C with extreme climate disruption; or build back better, preserving our planet for generations to come.”

The group had announced it was planning to launch the challenge earlier this month. The government has 14 days to respond to this "pre-action" letter, or may request and extension to respond from the court.

The Standard has contacted the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for comment.

A government spokesperson has previously defended itself against Plan B's allegations by saying the government “continued to take our environmental responsibilities seriously and remain committed to meeting our climate change and wider environmental targets, including net zero [emissions] by 2050”.