Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to their continuing participation in the Energy Charter Treaty in light of the recent withdrawals by other signatories.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is closely monitoring the positions of other Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty and takes into account these positions in its own interaction with the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the data presented in the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, published on 19 October 2021, showing that they anticipate the UK emitting 2073 MtCO2e over the period covered by Carbon Budget 4 (2023–2027), how they intend to meet their binding commitment of 1950 MTCO2e set out in the Carbon Budget Order 2011.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s Net Zero Strategy sets out a decarbonisation pathway to meet all carbon budgets. The figure quoted includes emissions from international aviation and shipping, which are not in scope for Carbon Budget 4 (CB4). Table 9 of the technical annex shows emissions contributing to CB4 (which does not include international aviation and shipping emissions) would be 359 MtCO2e on average per year, equivalent to 1793 MtCO2e over the five-year budget. This figure also uses the global warming potential methodology which was agreed internationally at COP 26.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether clause 111 of the Energy Bill, which seeks to amend the definition of carbon removals in section 29 of the Climate Change Act 2008, would allow the meeting of emission reductions targets by the purchase of offsets or other traded instruments.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The clause does not have this effect. The intention behind clause 111 is to broaden the definition of “removals” of greenhouse gases beyond nature-based greenhouse gas removal methods (GGRs), such as tree planting, to include those achieved by engineered GGRs, such as Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage.
The Government does not currently intend to purchase offsets to set towards its carbon budgets, although it has retained the option to do so in the future if appropriate, as permitted by the Climate Change Act 2008.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that the ideal room temperature for healthy and appropriately dressed people is 18 degrees Celsius, what plans they have, if any, to introduce an information campaign to encourage people to reduce their room temperatures.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Met Office’s WeatherReady campaign, run in partnership with Cabinet Office and expert partners, is a year-round campaign to help individuals, communities and businesses prepare for and cope with severe weather and its impacts. It includes webpages on heating your home in winter and getting your home winter ready and provides advice on keeping homes at a comfortable temperature, even if this is slightly below 18°C, for healthy adults under the age of 65 and wearing appropriate clothing. Warmer indoor temperatures may be required for vulnerable individuals, including younger children.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what, if any, advice have they received from the Chief Scientific Adviser about the implications of increases in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on a warming planet, in light of the highest recorded concentration of 419 parts per million at the Mauna Loa Observatory in 2021.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Both the Government and its Chief Scientific Advisors are informed by the latest scientific evidence, as presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Panel’s reports set out in detail how, as carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere rise, global temperatures are also expected to rise, with severe impacts to people and nature.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of stranded assets in relation to the further development of fossil fuel extraction infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK regulators, the Oil and Gas Authority and the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning have a role in the licensing of future offshore oil and gas developments, but whether to proceed with them is a commercial decision for the operators concerned. The risk of ‘stranded assets’ will be among the many risks operators consider when making investment decisions.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs of decommissioning (1) existing oil and gas infrastructure, and (2) extant oil and gas licences which have not yet been granted planning approval.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
According to the Oil and Gas Authority’s ‘UKCS Decommissioning Cost Estimate 2021’ report (copy attached), the total cost of decommissioning UK Continental Shelf offshore oil and gas infrastructure has reduced to £46bn[1] equating to a projected saving of nearly £14bn (23%) since the 2017 cost reduction target[2] was first established.
With extant oil and gas licences which have not yet been granted planning approval, we do not know which will be developed, so it is not possible to say how much they will cost to decommission, although the Oil and Gas Authority’s UK Continental Shelf full portfolio estimate referenced in the report attached includes £2bn for planned but as yet unsanctioned/not-built projects.
[1] Costs shown in 2016 prices, for expenditure in 2017 and after
[2] Basis of 2017 estimate, 2016 Annual OGA Stewardship survey
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Lord Callanan on 3 November (HL Deb col 1215), what estimate they have made of the amount of (1) oil, (2) gas, and (3) coal, currently accessible and expected to be extracted from open sites in UK jurisdictions.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Oil and Gas Authority’s estimate for proven and probable (2P) UK petroleum reserves as at end 2020 is 4.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and the estimate for the UK’s contingent (2C) resources as at end 2020 is 6.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
It is not possible to say with certainty how much of this will be extracted as this will be driven by a range of commercial and regulatory factors.
As of June 2021, the Coal Authority estimates that overall there are 3,814 million tonnes of coal resources. There are five current commercial projects* with a projected tonnage of around 35 million tonnes, of which around 14 million tonnes has been worked.
*Not including Forest of Dean gales.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Lord Callanan on 3 November (HL Deb, col 1215), what estimate they have made of the amount of (1) oil, (2), gas, and (3) coal, needed for domestic consumption during the transition to net zero.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Like our independent advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the Government sees continued but declining use of fossils fuels during the transition to net zero. The recently published Net Zero Strategy (figure 14, page 81) shows that we expect both natural gas and oil consumption to more than halve by 2037 as fossil fuels are replaced by new sources of energy.
Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether charities based in the UK which advocate for street children are include in the support being offered to small and medium enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A £750 million funding package announced on 8 April is aimed at charities who provide frontline services to vulnerable people affected by the pandemic in the UK. The Government funding will be allocated based on evidence of service need. There are three tranches of money;
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is providing £6 million of emergency funding to homelessness charities directly affected by the coronavirus. The funding will be distributed to local frontline homelessness services via the charity Homeless Link and will support organisations at risk of having to cut services and staff or cease operations due to the pandemic. Applications are now open via the Homeless Link website.
Charities are also eligible for support under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). CBILS provides businesses with annual turnover of under £45m with access to working capital of up to £5m. It supports a wide range of business finance products, including term loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance facilities. Since Monday 27 April, registered charities have been exempted from the requirement that the applicant derives at least 50% of its income from trading activity.
Charities are also eligible for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), which launched on Monday 4 May and supports the smallest SMEs by providing loans from £2,000 up to 25% of the business’ turnover with a maximum loan size of £50,000. By providing lenders with a 100% government-backed guarantee and standardising the application form, businesses and charities applying for these loans could receive them within days.
Further details on CBILS and BBLS can be found on GOV.UK or the British Business Bank website.
On 1 May, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced that a further up to £617 million is being made available to Local Authorities in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. It is the Government’s intention that charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief should be considered as one of the priority businesses for these funds.
Any enquiries regarding eligibility for, or provision of the Small Business Grant Fund should be directed to the relevant local authority.
These schemes are part of a wider package of measures designed to support small businesses and charities facing difficulties in this period of uncertainty, which for charities could include, for example, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Tax Deferral scheme, a temporary freeze on evictions and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.