Campaign Reply: Climate Change and Net Zero Commitments

It is crucial that we recognise the importance and urgency of action needed on climate change. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that the world is warming faster than anticipated, the effects of which are being seen in every single region of our planet. Immediate global action is needed to limit warming, heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and loss of Arctic Sea ice, snow cover and permafrost.

The debate on climate change has been stuck between two extremes. It’s important to bring everyone with us as we forge ahead in eradicating the UK’s contribution to climate change. We can do this and still meet our international commitments and interim domestic targets.

The UK was the first G7 country to legislate to achieve net zero by 2050, and I am proud that the UK has made progress to cut emissions faster than any other G7 country, having already slashed emissions by 48 per cent, compared to 41 per cent in Germany, 23 per cent in France, as well as surpassing the targets most countries have set for 2030. It is this over-delivery on reducing emissions that provides the space to take a more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach to reaching net zero. I am pleased that these recently revised plans will ease the burden on working people, as the Government has made it clear that the plans to meet net zero will only succeed if public support is maintained. 

However, the UK accounts for less than 1 cent of global emissions; clearly, global action is required. When the UK took on the COP26 Presidency, in partnership with Italy, only 30 per cent of the world was covered by net zero targets. This figure is now at around 90 per cent. I am strongly encouraged by the ambitions of the Glasgow Climate Pact which calls on accelerated global efforts to phase down unabated coal power and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, while providing targeted transitional support to the poorest and most vulnerable in line with national circumstances.

I am encouraged that the UK will produce enough offshore wind to power every home, quadrupling how much we currently produce to 50GW by 2030, and supporting up to 60,000 jobs, and I welcome the Prime Minister’s recent announcement about promoting more offshore wind. The Government will work with industry and aim to generate 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for industry, transport, power and homes. In addition, the Government aims to develop the first town heated entirely by hydrogen by the end of the decade. The Government has launched a new Energy Security Strategy, which will see a significant acceleration of nuclear, with an ambition of up to 24GW by 2050 to come from what I am assured by my ministerial colleagues is a safe, clean, and reliable source of power.  

Other measures include a target to install 600,000 heat pumps every year by 2028, £1 billion funding to make our schools, hospitals and homes more energy efficient, planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year, promoting and investing in zero-emission transport and £20 million to develop clean maritime technology. The plan also includes a pledge to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2035.

Getting to net zero by 2050 is feasible and consistent with avoiding most damaging climate change. Aiming for zero emissions by 2030 is almost certainly impossible, disruptive, not required by the science, economically unfeasible and risks undermining consensus. I am pleased the Prime Minister has set out a fairer and more pragmatic path to achieving net zero that eases the financial burden on British families.

At a local level, the Government has launched a Local Energy Programme which will provide support to Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities to help them implement energy projects which reduce carbon emissions and benefit their communities. Substantial funding has also been provided to support Heat Networks and other low carbon projects, while the National Planning Policy Framework includes guidance on how local authorities can meet the challenge of climate change.

Nearly 400,000 people are working in the low-carbon economy and the Government is committed to creating thousands of highly skilled, well paid jobs up and down the country. For instance, I welcome that the Offshore Wind Sector Deal could see the number of jobs triple in this sector to 27,000 by 2030. Furthermore, the Net Zero Strategy lays the Government's plans for how to level up the UK, while supporting up to 190,000 green jobs in 2025 and up to 440,000 jobs across net zero sectors in 2030.

I am pleased that in the recent revisions to the net zero strategy, the Government recommitted to banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, but moved the date of the ban back to 2035 to ease high upfront costs for families struggling with the cost of living. This will still enable the UK to hit its ambitious, legally binding target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while supporting jobs in the electric vehicle manufacturing sector.

Moreover, the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, launched in July 2021, commits to delivering a Net Zero rail network by 2050, with sustained carbon reductions in rail along the way. The Government's ambition is to remove all diesel-only trains from the network by 2040.

The next decade is critical; every country, government, business and citizen must unite to tackle this huge threat to our planet and humanity.