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UK emissions reductions 2026: what the latest figures actually show

UK emissions reductions 2026 explained: the latest official figures show real progress, but transport, buildings and delivery risk decide what comes next.

Kieran Simpson 25 Jun 2026 Updated 25 Jun 2026

UK emissions are still falling. The latest provisional government figures put net territorial greenhouse gas emissions at 367 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025, down 2% from 2024 and 54% from 1990. That is real progress. The harder question is whether the next reductions can move beyond the sectors that have already done most of the work.

Information only

This article is for general information only. It is not investment, financial, legal, regulatory, procurement or technical advice. Emissions statistics, policy targets and market conditions can change, so check the latest official source documents before relying on any figure for a decision.

The important part of the UK emissions story is that it is not just a target. The measured number has fallen substantially over three decades. Coal has left the power system, renewable electricity has grown, industrial output and fuel use have changed, and energy demand is lower than it was in 1990.

But a falling national total can hide the next constraint. Domestic transport is now the largest source of UK territorial emissions and it rose in 2025. Buildings remain heavily affected by weather and gas heating. Agriculture, land use and aviation are harder to move quickly. That is why the useful Progress question is not only "are emissions down?" It is: what changed, what caused the change and which sectors still have to prove delivery?

Data checked

This article was checked on 25 June 2026 against the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions statistics for 2025 and the Climate Change Committee (CCC) 2026 progress report to Parliament.

Quick answer

Question	Short answer
Are UK emissions still falling?	Yes. DESNZ provisionally estimates UK net territorial greenhouse gas emissions at 367 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025, down 2% from 2024.
How far below 1990 is the UK?	The provisional 2025 total is 54% below 1990, a fall of 424 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
What drove the latest fall?	The biggest 2025 reductions came from industry, fuel supply, buildings and electricity supply, with lower blast furnace use and zero coal emissions in electricity supply doing much of the visible work.
What moved the wrong way?	Domestic transport emissions rose by 2%, largely because petrol and diesel use in road transport increased.
What is the main caveat?	The figures are territorial and provisional. They do not include emissions embedded in imported goods and services, and final 2025 estimates will not be published until 2027.

The number that matters

Progress signal

UK net territorial greenhouse gas emissions were provisionally estimated at 367 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025. That is 54% below 1990, but only 2% below 2024.

This is the useful headline because it holds two truths together. The long-term reduction is large. The latest annual fall is modest.

That combination matters. It prevents the emissions story becoming either a celebration or a dismissal. The UK has cut more than half of its territorial emissions since 1990, which is a major change. But the remaining emissions are concentrated in sectors where progress is less automatic than closing coal plants.

What changed in 2025

Sector	2025 share	Latest movement	Why it matters
Domestic transport	31%	Up 2% from 2024.	The largest sector moved in the wrong direction, largely because petrol and diesel use in road transport increased.
Buildings and product uses	22%	Down 2% from 2024.	Lower heating use helped, but buildings emissions still depend heavily on weather, gas use and the speed of heat-pump and efficiency deployment.
Agriculture	13%	Provisional 2025 estimates are largely projection-based.	This is a harder sector to assess quickly because methane, land use and farm practice changes do not move like electricity generation data.
Industry	11%	Down 12% from 2024.	The fall is significant, but part of it reflects lower blast furnace use and steel-sector change rather than a simple repeatable efficiency gain.
Electricity supply	10%	Down 1% from 2024.	Coal emissions in electricity supply fell to zero, but gas emissions from electricity supply increased.
Fuel supply	7%	Down 5% from 2024.	Lower emissions from oil and gas supply helped the annual fall, but the sector remains tied to fossil fuel production and demand.
Waste	6%	Part of the remaining non-energy emissions base.	Waste is smaller than transport or buildings, but methane reductions still matter for a credible whole-economy pathway.

The sector split is the real story. The UK is not trying to reduce one emissions source. It is trying to keep the power-system gains while moving transport, heat, industry, land and food systems at the same time.

What this proves

The figures prove that UK territorial emissions can fall by a large amount over time. A 54% reduction from 1990 is not a marginal accounting change. It reflects major changes in the electricity system, energy demand, industrial structure and fuel use.

They also prove that electricity-sector change has been one of the strongest parts of the UK story. DESNZ says the long-term fall since 1990 was driven heavily by the shift in electricity generation away from coal, first toward gas and later toward renewables, alongside lower electricity demand and changes in energy-intensive industry.

For the power-system detail, read our Progress article on the UK electricity generation mix in 2026. That guide shows why renewables above half of generation and coal at zero are real progress, but not proof that the whole economy is finished.

What this does not prove

The figures do not prove that the UK is comfortably on track for net zero. A falling emissions total is a necessary signal, not the whole test.

First, the figures are territorial. They count emissions produced within UK borders. They exclude emissions embedded in imported goods and services, and they do not treat international aviation and shipping in the same way as domestic sectors. That boundary is useful for carbon budgets, but it is not the same as the UK's full consumption footprint.

Second, some of the latest reductions may not be easily repeatable. A fall caused by lower blast furnace use is different from a fall caused by durable low-carbon industrial production. Lower heating demand in a warmer period is different from millions of homes becoming easier to heat cleanly.

Third, the largest sector, domestic transport, increased in 2025. That is why the Climate Change Committee keeps pointing to electric vehicle (EV) uptake, charging, buildings and wider electrification as central delivery tests. For the infrastructure side, read the Progress check on UK public EV charging in 2026. For the buildings side, use the Progress check on UK heat pump rollout in 2026.

Why the 2030 target still matters

The CCC's 2026 progress report is useful because it looks beyond the latest emissions total. It says the UK is not moving fast enough to reduce emissions and that the pace of reduction needs to almost double to keep the 2030 target within reach.

The key gap is the UK's 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), its international target under the Paris Agreement. The CCC says the government's current pathway falls short of that target, even though it may be more credible against some earlier carbon budgets that were set before the UK adopted net zero.

That distinction matters for readers. A country can be ahead of an old budget and still behind a stronger net-zero-aligned milestone. The question is not only whether emissions are lower than before. It is whether current policy is strong enough for the next target.

For the legal pathway behind that test, read the Seventh Carbon Budget guide. For the broader definition, read what net zero means.

The next progress test

The next UK progress story is less likely to be a single clean headline like "coal falls to zero". It is more likely to be a delivery test across several sectors at once.

Transport needs petrol and diesel demand to fall in absolute terms. Buildings need heat-pump deployment, insulation, electricity pricing and public-sector retrofit to move fast enough to show up in emissions data. Industry needs lower-carbon production rather than only lower production. Agriculture and land use need evidence that emissions and removals are changing in ways that can be measured credibly.

That is why the 2025 number should be read as progress with a constraint attached. The UK has shown that emissions can fall. The next question is whether the system can keep falling when the easier power-sector reductions are no longer enough.

What to watch next

Whether final 2025 emissions, due in 2027, confirm the provisional 367 million tonne estimate.
Whether domestic transport emissions start falling again in absolute terms.
Whether buildings emissions fall in a way that cannot be explained mainly by warmer weather, including whether heat-pump redemptions and retrofit activity keep rising.
Whether industry emissions fall through cleaner production rather than reduced output alone.
Whether agriculture, land use and waste data become clearer in final emissions statistics.
Whether government delivery plans close the gap to the UK's 2030 international target.

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