Net Zero Emissions and Green Investment 2021-09-07
2021-09-07
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
The question arises from the need to encourage investments in environmentally sustainable industries.
What fiscal steps is the Department taking to encourage investment in green industries, growth and jobs?
The Prime Minister's 10-point plan demonstrates our commitment to net zero. It sets out £12 billion of new Government investment in green industries. This will create and support up to 250,000 highly skilled green jobs in the UK. In addition to this £12 billion, our plan will attract up to three times as much private investment by providing regulatory certainty and robust green finance frameworks.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The Climate Change Committee's recent progress report highlights that the Treasury failed to meet recommendations.
Does the Minister think it is good enough that the Treasury has not met any of its climate change recommendations, and what steps should be taken to improve this?
I am afraid I do not think that is what the report has said. What I will say is that we will be releasing many publications this autumn around net zero, not least the net zero review. This final report will be published in advance of COP26. The report will inform sectoral decarbonisation strategies and the net zero strategy, and work on those will continue to develop at pace across Whitehall.
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Assessment & feedback
Assessment of Climate Change Committee's recommendations not directly addressed
Releasing Publications
Informing Decarbonisation Strategies
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
Recent cuts to the international aid budget have raised concerns about UK's leadership on climate action.
What steps will the Treasury take to develop a carbon-neutral programme of international aid given the recent budget cuts?
I will ask my counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to answer the hon. Lady's question directly—they are responsible for aid. What I will tell her is that there is a lot of stuff we are doing within our remit on international climate finance action, not least on the taskforce on nature-related financial disclosures.
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Assessment & feedback
Responsibility shifted to another department without addressing carbon neutrality
Foreign, Commonwealth And Development Office
Response accuracy
Q4
Partial Answer
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Context
Local businesses and residents want a freeport on Anglesey for jobs and investment.
Will the Minister urge the Welsh Government to work with me to deliver a freeport on Anglesey, as local people want?
I thank my hon. Friend for her letters and her continued campaigning for her constituency. We are working closely with the Welsh Government and remain committed to establishing at least one freeport in Wales as soon as possible. I encourage them to work closely with constituency MPs on that.
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Assessment & feedback
No specific timeline or plan given
Working Closely
Remain Committed
Response accuracy
Q5
Direct Answer
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Context
The need to integrate climate considerations into economic decisions is urgent.
How will the Government incorporate our net zero targets into every decision during the upcoming spending review?
The Government have used the Green Book to mandate that policies must be developed and assessed against how well they deliver on our long-term policy aims, including net zero. We did that at spending review 2020, where guidance required Departments to include the greenhouse emissions of bids and their impact on meeting carbon budgets and net zero, and allocations to Departments were informed by that information.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q6
Partial Answer
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Context
There is potential for venture capital to support green innovation and investment.
Will the Minister meet me to discuss establishing an office for venture, similar to the new Office for Investment, which could provide expertise in green innovation?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. The Government recognise the important role of financial markets in supporting the UK's transition to a net zero economy. The British Business Bank is a Government-owned economic development bank that makes finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, and its remit includes venture capital. I note her point about a meeting and believe that my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary is happy to meet her on this issue.
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Assessment & feedback
Meeting suggestion instead of commitment
British Business Bank
Response accuracy
Q7
Partial Answer
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Context
Households, businesses and consumers need clarity on how costs of transitioning to net zero will be shared.
Where is the final report from the net zero review promised by the Chancellor 11 weeks ago?
As I said, the report will be published in advance of COP26, but we have published other things that the hon. Member does not seem to have heard of or read. We have set out ambitious plans about the net zero target and published the energy White Paper, the industrial decarbonisation strategy, the transport decarbonisation plan, which has not happened anywhere else in the world—we are the first country to do a transport decarbonisation plan—and a hydrogen strategy.
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Assessment & feedback
Publication date of report not specified
Published Other Things
Ambitious Plans
Response accuracy
Q8
Direct Answer
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Context
The Government's net zero measures will affect taxpayers and energy bills.
Will the Minister set out in detail the costs of achieving net zero and the calculations behind those costs?
We will put affordability and fairness at the heart of our reforms to reach net zero. Our latest estimates put the costs of net zero at under 2% of GDP—broadly similar to when we legislated for it two years ago—with scope for costs of low-carbon technologies to fall faster than expected.
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Assessment & feedback
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Q9
Partial Answer
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Context
Concerns about the fiscal plan to fund the transition towards net zero, especially with changes in taxation on petrol vehicles and past failures like the green homes grant.
The hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr Baker) and I may not have the same views on net zero, but we share a concern about how the Government will fund it. We will see, for example, a reduction in petrol vehicles, so what will happen to the tax on them? We have also seen yet another failure recently with the green homes grant. What is the fiscal plan for making sure that net zero achieves its targets while we maintain the Exchequer balances?
I thank the hon. Lady for that question. We recognise that this is an issue under intense speculation. We will publish a strategy that will set out many of the answers to the questions she is posing. What we have said is that we will put affordability and fairness at the heart of our reforms to reach net zero. The fact is that everyone in this House agreed with us when we set that target. For example, we have put in place plans to bring in electric vehicles by 2030. These will require changes not just in how we spend, but in our tax and regulatory system. The answers will come in due course.
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Assessment & feedback
The fiscal plan specifics for net zero funding without compromising Exchequer balances
Response accuracy
Q10
Partial Answer
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Context
Welcoming the Government's hydrogen strategy, which includes £105 million of public funding to unlock private investments in Teesside.
As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on hydrogen, may I take this opportunity to welcome the Government's world-leading comprehensive hydrogen strategy, backed up by £105 million of public funding to unlock £4 billion of private investment by 2030? Does the Minister agree with me that this is how we will build back better and create more jobs in places such as Teesside?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I do agree with him: building back better and building back greener are at the heart of this Government's strategy. I thank him for raising those points, which will benefit Teesside and the north-east in general.
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Assessment & feedback
Specific commitments to job creation in Teesside from the hydrogen strategy
Response accuracy
Q11
Partial Answer
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Context
An activist questioned why the Treasury is blocking serious action on climate change, pointing out that only £4 billion of new money has been committed to green transition compared to a need of £85 billion.
At the weekend, a young activist called Fatima challenged the Chancellor, asking why the Treasury is blocking action on the climate crisis. He replied that the Treasury has committed £12 billion of new money to the 10-point plan, but even that is not true, as he knows, and the President of COP26 has said that actually only a paltry £4 billion is new money. When will the Treasury start committing serious money to the green transition, in the region of the £85 billion that the TUC has said is necessary to put into green investment so that we go into COP26 as climate leaders, not climate laggards?
I will tell the hon. Lady what the Treasury is doing. We are issuing £15 billion of green bonds over the next year, and launching a world-first green savings bond ahead of COP26 to help finance the Government's green projects. We set up the UK Infrastructure Bank to invest in net zero, backed by £12 billion of capital, which will also help to unlock more than £40 billion of overall investment in infrastructure. We are committing £11.6 billion in international climate finance over the next five years to help developing countries tackle climate change. The Budget also announced three UK-wide competitions that are part of the £1 billion net zero innovation portfolio. We have the towns deal, which is helping people create new green spaces, build back greener, create sustainable transport routes and repurpose empty shops. The fact is that the Treasury is doing everything it can to support the transition to net zero.
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Assessment & feedback
Commitment of £85 billion towards green investment as demanded by TUC
Response accuracy