The announcement follows policy disagreements between cabinet ministers The government is to set out plans to reduce greenhouse gases and change the way energy is produced.
The UK’s fourth “carbon budget” has been agreed following recent disputes among ministers on the possible impact such changes will have on business.
It will set targets for 2027, following recommendations from the government’s official advisory body.
But there is expected to be an “opt-out” for the UK if European competitors fail to stick to similar aims.
The Committee on Climate Change has urged the UK to accept a global agreement roughly equating to an emissions cut of 50% – based on 1990 levels – by 2025.
The 2027 target, which is expected to be similar, forms part of reaching a longer-term aim of a 60% reduction by 2030.
The business department BIS insisted on a proviso to cushion industries from higher electricity prices before agreeing to sign off on a world-leading agreement detailing emissions cuts to 2027.
One of the main beneficiaries will be the rump of the UK steel industry which threatened that UK plants would close if energy prices rose substantially.
I understand that the fine print of the concessions won’t be announced until later in the year.
The sweeteners will be given to industrial sectors like steel which are most vulnerable to competition from imports.
The Treasury is considering various options, including whether to grant rebates for energy taxes designed to underpin nuclear and renewables, and whether to grant credits for methane generated from industry as a by-product to be captured and burned as fuel.
BIS has also secured a concession for a review of the climate targets in 2014 to monitor whether other EU nations are taking similar steps.
Prime Minister David Cameron moved to resolve a cabinet row over the UK’s climate change targets, with Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne urging the acceptance of targets, but Business Secretary Vince Cable questioning their possible effect on economic competitiveness.
And Foreign Secretary William Hague put the case for strong carbon targets to keep up with countries like China in the move towards low-carbon energy, and to retain the UK’s international moral leadership on the issue.
The BBC understands that the UK’s main energy-using industries have secured key concessions from the government to ease the impact of higher electricity prices.
However, consumer watchdog Which? has expressed concern that domestic customers will not be similarly shielded from price rises.
The Committee on Climate Change has forecast that to meet emissions targets the average household fuel bill will go up by £1 a week until 2020 when it will plateau out with no major rises after that.
Mr Huhne will announce the carbon budget in a written ministerial statement at about 1200 BST.
For Labour, shadow climate change secretary Meg Hillier said: “I am demanding that Chris Huhne comes to the House in person to make his announcement and answer to MPs.
“The fourth carbon budget will have a massive impact on British households, jobs and firms. It beggars belief that he is considering slipping out the announcement as a written statement.”
Greenpeace has described the agreement as “rare victory for the green growth agenda” in the face of what it said was “vehement” opposition from the Treasury and the Department of Business.
But Friends of the Earth said Mr Huhne should have gone further and accepted advice to tighten the UK’s existing 34% emissions reduction target, by 2020, to compensate for the cuts already achieved due to the recession.
A Department of Energy source defended the government’s handling of the issue, arguing that it would be wrong to pre-empt discussions under way in the EU and the UK was still arguing to increase the EU 2020 target from 20% to 30%.
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