It’s good news but the hype is nonsensical. Domestic energy generation has shifted a lot but the primary driver of lower emissions is exporting our manufacturing jobs. And now they’re polishing their halos while wagging their fingers at China.
The UK economy gradually shifted from a carbon-intensive manufacturing-based economy to a less carbon-intensive services economy after-1986. The gap between the consumption-based and territorial-based emissions started to widen. By 2007, the consumption-based CO2 emissions reached their peak and were 37% higher than the territorial CO2 emissions. This implies that the absolute decoupling of gross domestic product (GDP) from territorial CO2 emissions in 1986 was not solely because of policy impacts, but also because of the outsourcing of the production of manufactured goods to developing countries.