That plan itself was a response to a previous successful legal challenge.
ClientEarth said Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho is now “expected to produce a new climate strategy within 12 months,” adding: “We will keep an eye out.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, speaking to Sky News, said he had not yet seen the decision, but added: “I’m proud of our track record, we decarbonised faster than any other major economy around the world Is… But last year I set out to take a more practical approach to getting to net zero. Of course we believe in it, I want to get there, but we’re going to do it in a way that puts the onus on those families. Don’t be burdened with bills we don’t need.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero said the case was “largely about process” and that the decision contained “no criticism of the detailed plans we have in place.”
“We do not believe that a court case about the process represents the best way to advance progress toward our shared goal of reaching net zero,” the spokesperson said.
But ClientEarth lawyer Sam Hunter Jones said the courts had “now told the UK government not once but twice that its climate strategy is not fit for purpose.”