The petition of residents of Macclesfield,
Declares that climate changes impacts upon both people and places; further that the rapid progress towards ratification of the Paris Agreement is to be applauded; further that the UK requires a low carbon investment plan to transform the economy in line with the Climate Change Act 2008; and further that 1,100 individuals have signed a local petition on the same matter.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to publish an ambitious low carbon investment plan.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by David Rutley , Official Report, 30 November 2016; Vol. 617, c. 1634.]
[P001986]
Observations from The Minister for Climate Change and Industry (Mr Nick Hurd): The Government remain committed to tackling climate change and to the UK’s Climate Change Act. Climate change remains one of the most serious long-term risks to our economic and national security. The Act introduced five yearly carbon targets to put us on a cost effective pathway to meeting our legally binding 2050 target. We need to meet our targets while keeping our energy supply secure and low cost.
The UK has already made great progress towards our goal. The UK is currently ranked third in the world for tackling climate change by the independent Climate Action Network. Provisional statistics indicate that UK emissions in 2015 were 38% lower than in 1990, and 4% below those in 2014. The UK met the first carbon target (2008-12) and is on track to meet the second (2013-17) and third carbon targets (2018-22).
The Government are looking ahead to our emissions reduction plan which will set out how we will reduce emissions through the 2020s. We recognise that the plan will form an important signal to investors, the markets and businesses. The Government are investing the time now to undertake critical preparatory work to ensure we get this right. This includes engaging across businesses, industry and other stakeholders on the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy.