UK greenhouse gas emissions fall to 473 million tonnes in 2025

Provisional Office for National Statistics figures put residence-based emissions 1.0 per cent lower than 2024 and 42.4 per cent below 1990 levels.

UK greenhouse gas emissions on a residence basis fell to an estimated 473 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2e) in 2025, down from 478 Mt CO2e the year before, the Office for National Statistics has announced. That 1.0 per cent year-on-year reduction puts emissions 42.4 per cent below where they stood in 1990 — the baseline against which the UK’s long-term climate progress is measured.

The residence-based measure covers greenhouse gases produced by UK residents and UK-registered businesses, including emissions generated overseas. It differs from the territorial measure — which counts only emissions occurring within UK borders — and the two figures aren’t directly interchangeable.

On that separate territorial basis, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero put provisional 2025 emissions at 367 Mt CO2e, a steeper fall of 2 per cent compared with 2024 and 54 per cent below 1990 levels. The gap between the two measures reflects the overseas emissions tied to UK residents and businesses that the residence approach captures but the territorial one does not.

The figures are provisional and may be revised.

Whether a 1.0 per cent annual fall is enough to keep the UK on track for all future climate targets is a separate question the data alone don’t answer. The figures show a continuing long-term downward trend, but the ONS release makes no assessment of whether the pace of reduction is sufficient against specific statutory or international commitments.