The way the UK counts carbon is bad for the climate and for growth
By David Lawrence and Pedro Serôdio
Britain's climate accounting counts only emissions produced on British soil. That pushes production to dirtier grids abroad, raising global emissions while scoring the loss as a domestic win.
Britain's official system of climate accounting invents a molecule. It counts only the emissions produced on British soil and treats those as the only ones that bear on the climate. Physics does not work that way.
The consequences run in both directions. Britain forgoes the policies that would cut global emissions most, and it blocks productive activity at home. When a data centre moves from Britain to Saudi Arabia it emits around 70% more over 25 years, yet the accounting rules record the British refusal as a climate success.