Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of gas and oil lobbyists at the 30th United Nations climate change conference, and what steps they are taking to prevent those lobbyists from attending future climate conferences.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UNFCCC Secretariat, its Presiding officers, and the annually nominated COP Presidency are jointly responsible for upholding the standards that govern participation at COP meetings, relating to impartiality and transparency.
The UK continues to champion a transparent, inclusive, and effective UNFCCC process that supports enhanced ambition and strengthened implementation of the Paris Agreement and COP outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they have taken from the report by the Poverty and Environment Trust, Overwhelmed and Oversubscribed, published in August; and what is the timetable for bringing forward legislation to establish local supply rights for community energy schemes.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government is hugely ambitious about the role that local energy will play in achieving our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
Officials read the report with interest and thank the Poverty and Environment Trust for their work on it.
Alongside delivering the 2025/26 Great British Energy Community Fund, Great British Energy is expected to work closely with Community Energy Groups, providing commercial, technical and project-planning assistance to increase their capability and capacity to build a pipeline of successful projects in their local areas, in addition to feasibility funding support.
We recognise the requests to take steps to better enable local energy markets and trading to lower bills, support renewables and increase the resilience of the electricity networks. The Department is currently investigating barriers to local supply, and is working with Ofgem, Great British Energy and relevant stakeholders to find solutions that work in the best interests of local generators and consumers.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of a Cap and Share system for supporting energy transition for the UK, particularly with regard to its fairness and social and climate impacts.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme is a cap-and-trade scheme, setting a limit on emissions from power, industry and aviation. Participants must buy and surrender allowances annually to cover their emissions.
The scheme, launched in 2021, is a key part of the Government’s approach to meeting our climate targets. Revenues from the UK ETS are used to support Government priorities including decarbonisation. The UK ETS Authority, made up of the UK Government and Devolved Governments, continues to develop the scheme to ensure it is achieving its aims, supported by thorough public consultation and assessment of its climate, economic and social impacts.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to advocate for a ban on the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists at future United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences of the Parties.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The changing climate is the greatest long-term global challenge our country faces. The UNFCCC remains the most effective global forum for tackling this crisis.
The UK continues to champion a transparent, inclusive, and effective UNFCCC process that supports enhanced ambition and strengthened implementation of the Paris Agreement and COP outcomes, including the Global Stocktake agreement and the new climate finance goal agreed at COP29.
It is the joint responsibility of the UNFCCC Secretariat, their Presiding officers, and the annually nominated Presidency to uphold the rigorous standards which govern each meeting of the Conference of Parties, reflecting the importance of impartiality.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of proposals to reform the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) process outlined in an open letter published on 15 November by the Club of Rome; and what actions they are taking to improve the (1) process and (2) outcomes for future COPs.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The changing climate is the greatest long-term global challenge our country faces, and the UNFCCC remains the most effective global forum for tackling climate change. We have seen its successes: the Glasgow Climate Pact, COP28’s Global Stocktake agreement to transitioning away from fossil fuels, the historic climate finance goal agreed at COP29. The UK continues to champion a transparent, inclusive, and effective COP process and is engaged in discussions within the UNFCCC on arrangements for COPs, where we advocate for increased efficiency within the process in a way that supports enhanced ambition and strengthened implementation in line with the science.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) expected, and (2) last possible, date that they will publish their Net-Zero Strategy to comply with the judge's order in Friends of the Earth and others v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, taking into account any pre-election period for local elections.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Government will comply with the Court Order and lay before Parliament a report on its carbon budget strategy by the Court Order deadline.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish a full environmental impact assessment concurrently with the publication of their Net Zero Strategy, and if not, what they plan to publish and when.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
In Spring 2025, we will deliver an updated Carbon Budget Delivery plan out to the end of CB6 in 2037. This will outline the policies and proposals needed to deliver carbon budgets 4-6 on a pathway to net zero. Appropriate environmental assessments will be carried out on relevant policies to deliver this plan in the usual way, as well as project-level Environmental Impact Assessments to support applications for new energy infrastructure as part of the normal planning processes under planning and environmental legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Global Witness on 8 November 2023 that BP and its project partners had transferred $35 billion-worth of oil and gas production to the government of Azerbaijan since 2020, the year that war broke out in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and whether they plan to take any action in response.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to extending the £7,000 available to homeowners to support air source heat pump installation through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to support heat networks; and what other steps they are taking to encourage heat pump installations in areas of terraced housing where ground or air source heat pump installation may prove impractical.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides upfront grants to support the installation of air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers in individual properties. Ground source heat pumps attached to a shared ground loop are eligible, where the system capacity does not exceed 45kW.
We are working with industry and local authorities to develop new heat networks and improve existing ones, including through an additional £530m to extend the Heat Network Transformation Programme to 2028, and introducing heat network zoning in 2025 to identify areas where heat networks are expected to be the lowest cost solution for decarbonising heat.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of the planned redevelopment of Cloghan Point oil terminal into a storage and distribution hub for all forms of fossil fuels for Northern Ireland and beyond, including the impact on the UK's carbon emissions.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This is a devolved matter. Environmental assessments of projects in Northern Ireland are carried out by the NI Environment Agency.