UK’s Clean Growth Strategy

The UK Government’s Clean Growth Strategy laid out a comprehensive policy plan to deliver economic growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the country’s climate commitments. Central to the Strategy was the adoption of targets for 2032 consistent with the Fifth Carbon Budget, with a policy mix aimed at decarbonising power, buildings, transport, industry, and land use while ensuring affordability and economic competitiveness.

 To inform the Strategy, the UK TIMES model (UKTM) was used to test a range of scenarios, co-developed with policymakers. The modelling demonstrated that the proposed targets and policies for 2032 would leave open multiple viable pathways to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This finding gave policymakers the confidence to proceed with near-term targets, knowing they preserved long-term flexibility. The modelling process was highly interactive, with departments such as Transport and Environment feeding assumptions and policy options directly into scenario design.

The Strategy also used UKTM to illustrate long-term options across sectors, testing trade-offs between technology deployment, system costs, and carbon savings under various assumptions. UKTM has been developed by the Government in partnership with University College London, incorporating inputs from a wide range of sectoral experts.