(BBC News)-The UK government has set out more details about how it intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions and achieve «net zero» by 2050.

The announcement comes days before the start of the important climate change summit, COP26.

Presenting the net zero strategy to the House of Commons, Energy Minister Greg Hands pledged:

The UK government has already announced a ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, and that all the UK’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2035.

A green levy — used to pay for climate-friendly policies — will be moved from electricity to gas bills over the next decade.

• Net zero means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

• Achieving it will involve reducing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible and balancing out any that remain by removing an equivalent amount. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) are released when we burn oil, gas and coal for our homes, factories and transport. This causes global warming by trapping the sun’s energy.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, 197 countries agreed to try to limit temperature rises «well below» 1.5C to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Experts say that to achieve this target countries would need to reduce CO2 emissions to net zero by 2050. Nations will be asked to set out what steps they are taking to move towards this at the COP26 summit in Glasgow

Almost every country is planting trees as a cheap way of absorbing carbon, although there are questions over whether there’s enough space for the trees needed.

Technology involving carbon capture and storage has also been suggested.

This involves using machinery to remove carbon from the air, then solidifying it and burying it underground.

However, the technology is still emerging, very expensive and as yet unproven.

It’s generally recognised that a global effort is needed to tackle climate change.

For this reason, net zero targets only make sense if every country in the world is moving in the same direction.

Although 132 countries have publicly pledged to reach net zero emissions before 2050, China — currently the biggest producer of CO2 in the world — says it is aiming for «carbon neutrality» by 2060, although it has not set out exactly what this means and how it will get, there’s controversy about how some countries might try to reach net zero.