Commentary on Sections Proposals and policies for meeting carbon budgets Section 15: Duty to have regard to need for UK domestic action on climate change
78.Subsection (1) of this section requires the Secretary of State to have regard to the need for “UK domestic action on climate change” when exercising any functions under Part 1 of the Act involving consideration of how to meet the 2050 target (under section 1) and any carbon budget. So, in particular, the Secretary of State must have regard to the need for UK domestic action on climate change when preparing proposals and policies for meeting carbon budgets (with a view to meeting the 2050 target) as required by section 13.
79.Subsection (2) defines the term “UK domestic action on climate change” as covering both reductions in UK emissions of targeted greenhouse gases and increases in UK removals of those gases. The terms “UK emissions” and “UK removals” are defined in section 29 – see the commentary on that section for more detail.