Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Net Zero: Evidence-based Policy

Tuesday 14 October 2025 · 4 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 4 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Mary Kelly Foy highlighted the positive impact of clean energy policies on job creation and investment in the north-east of England, citing around 500 renewable energy companies employing approximately 17,000 people.
  • Lee Anderson questioned the Secretary of State about the temperature reduction effect on the Earth if the UK achieved net zero emissions immediately.
  • Bill Esterson referenced Lord Stern and the Office for Budget Responsibility to emphasize the economic growth potential of climate action and the futility of relying on fossil fuels.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Mary Kelly Foy Lab City of Durham
Economy Climate Energy
Context

Concerns about scientific evidence being used to support net zero policies and the impact of climate action on jobs and investment in local areas.

Question

This Government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower is not only delivering against climate targets, but delivering jobs and investment in places like Durham and the wider north-east, where around 500 renewable energy companies already employ around 17,000 people in good-quality jobs—a figure that is set to rise to 24,000. Those who take a stand against climate action would put that growth at risk. Does the Secretary of State share my concerns that the fearmongering by some in this House about the cost and safety of renewables is not only misguided, but fundamentally against our national interests, and will he work with local teams to provide suitable knowledge and education, as suggested by Retrofit Reimagined?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Unfortunately, the Climate Change Act 2008 is now an issue that divides this House. I think Rain Newton-Smith, the director general of the CBI, put it very well recently when she said, “The Climate Act has been the bedrock for investment flowing into the UK.” Ripping up the framework that has given investors confidence that the UK is serious about sustainable growth through a low-carbon future would damage our economy. Seeking to abolish the Climate Change Act is not just a betrayal of young people—it is anti-jobs and anti-investment.

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Q2 Lee Anderson Reform Ashfield
Climate
Context

Concern about the impact of UK becoming net zero on global temperature and the evidence supporting it.

Question

May I gently remind the Energy Secretary that it is his job to answer questions from MPs on behalf of their constituents? I will ask the same question that I asked him last time: if the UK became net zero tomorrow, by how much would it reduce the Earth’s temperature?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)

I will give the hon. Gentleman the answer I gave him last time. Action by the UK makes a difference here. Of course, we are 1% of global emissions, but our action means that other countries act. Where is the evidence for that? Well, it actually happened. When the Climate Change Act passed, 60 other countries passed their own versions of it. Net zero was signed into law in this country, and now 80% of global GDP is covered by net zero. That is the difference the UK makes.

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Q3 Bill Esterson Lab Sefton Central
Economy Climate
Context

Concerns about the economic growth potential of net zero policies and the costs associated with not taking climate action.

Question

Lord Stern reminded us just today that ‘Investment in climate action is the…growth story of the 21st century’, while expecting growth from fossil fuels is ‘futile because the damage it causes ends in self-destruction’. The Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed the same thing in the summer, referring to the huge cost of not taking climate action. Is it not the truth that the energy transition is essential, not only to address climate action, but to exactly how we deliver economic success?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)

The Chair of the Select Committee speaks very wisely on this matter. The net zero economy grew three times faster than the economy as a whole last year. This is the growth opportunity of the 21st century. Now, we could let China or India take that opportunity, but I say that we need that opportunity for Britain.

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Q4 Peter Bedford Con Mid Leicestershire
Economy Climate
Context

Concerns about the economic consequences of legally binding emissions targets set by the Climate Change Act.

Question

The Climate Change Act forces Ministers to meet rigid, legally binding emissions targets, regardless of the economic consequences. Does the Secretary of State accept that this law has directly contributed to higher energy bills, the loss of British industry and declining competitiveness, and that the only sensible course of action is to repeal it?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)

No, and British business roundly condemned the Conservatives when they came out with that argument. The hon. Gentleman should have a word with the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), sitting on the Front Bench, who said just in March last year—life comes at you fast, Mr Speaker—that Britain was the “poster child” for net zero. She was lauding everything associated with that, and now she wants to abolish the Act that made it possible.

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