The UK Climate Change Act 2008 implemented the world's first legally binding climate change target. It aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from the 1990 baseline by 2050, with an interim target of 34% by 2020. In June 2019, this commitment was strengthened to net zero by 2050.

The UK has also set targets to reduce carbon emissions by 68% by 2030, and 77% by 2035.  

In 2022, buildings accounted for approximately 17% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Change Committee's 2023 Progress Report stated that progress in the buildings sector had stalled, with little reduction in emissions since 2010.

The UK government has adopted a suite of policies to reach net zero, set out in two strategy publications, the Net Zero Strategy (2021) and Powering Up Britain: The Net Zero Growth Plan (2023). In particular, the latter was published following the High Court judgment in Friends of the Earth and others v. Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2022] EWHC 1841 (Admin), which required the government to set out more detail on its plans to achieve net zero in accordance with its 2050 target.