House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Carbon Emissions

Tuesday 7 January 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

Helen Hayes questions the government's commitment to net zero emissions given subsidies to fossil fuel extraction and Shell's tax rebate situation.
The Minister notes that renewable energy surpassed fossil fuels in the energy mix for the first time last year.
Simon Clarke confirms the Budget in March will focus on clean growth and green finance as central priorities.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Helen Hayes Lab West Didsbury and Chorlton

Economy Climate Energy

Context

The UK Government offers more financial support than any other European state for fossil fuel industries, despite the climate emergency.

Question

Helen Hayes asks how a government that continues to subsidise fossil fuel extraction can be trusted to deliver net zero emissions when Shell paid no corporate income tax last year due to tax rebates despite making £557 million profit in the UK.

Answer from Simon Clarke (Minister of State for Health and Social Care)

The most important thing to recognise is that last year was the first year on record in which renewable energy constituted more of our energy mix than fossil fuels. We also need to recognise that oil and gas support many thousands of jobs in the United Kingdom, and we must be careful not to jeopardise economic growth during the transition.

Answered

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

What was wrong?

Comment (optional)

Get updates like this by email

Q2 Simon Clarke Con Newton Abbot

Economy Climate

Context

The topic concerns the upcoming Budget and its focus on clean growth.

Question

We are clear that this is a central priority for the Budget in March. Obviously, I am not going to disclose details of that today, but the Government have a clean growth strategy.

Answer from The Prime Minister

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. We are clear that this is a central priority for the Budget in March. Obviously, I am not going to disclose details of that today, but the Government have a clean growth strategy. We are clear that green finance lies at the heart of the UK's offer to the world, and obviously that goes for both the private and public sectors; we need to bring together the whole strength of the country to make a truly radical offer.