Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - 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 conclusions of the UN Conference of Parties 24.
Answered by Lord Henley
The 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Katowice, Poland, from 2-15 December. In the negotiations we succeeded in securing our main objectives by delivering an operational rulebook that would enable the historic Paris Agreement to be effectively implemented. Inevitably there is still work to be done, but the overall picture is of a rulebook that will drive genuine climate action, providing a common set of rules while allowing for flexibility and support for those countries that need it.
The UK was a strong voice recognising the seriousness of the latest climate science during COP. We played a central role in the progressive alliance of countries striving for a final outcome that coupled robust rules with a call for more ambitious climate action. We did this through supporting the High Ambition Coalition’s Stepping Up Climate Ambition statement and through regularly convening the Cartagena Dialogue of progressive countries.
Outside the negotiations, the UK had a visible presence in Katowice. We celebrated one year of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, 10 years since the passage of the Climate Change Act, and held over 50 events showcasing UK international support, domestic action and low carbon expertise at a UK ‘Green is Great’ Pavilion. We were also pleased to support Poland as COP Presidency with three political initiatives, co-developing their e-mobility declaration and supporting declarations on the importance of a just transition, and forests.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for further improvements to, and investment in, the A21 road over the next five years.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Highways England currently has five improvement schemes on the A21 planned in the next six to twelve months:
To inform decisions about investment schemes in the period 2020 to 2025, under the second Road Investment Strategy, the Government is using the evidence it has gathered about local priorities such as the A21. Those decisions will be confirmed in late 2019.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made on proposals to electrify the Bexhill to Ashford railway line; and when they expect a new direct fast service to London from Bexhill to commence.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Development work is underway on a new connection at Ashford between High Speed 1 and the Marshlink line, with the aim of improving journey times in the Hastings area. Network Rail reports that work is 80% complete at the design stage. The delivery of the new connection is subject to both identifying a feasible option and funding being secured for it. Design is expected to be complete in January 2019 and will be followed by estimating activity and completion of the business case in February 2019.
Electrification of the railway between Ore and Ashford forms Phase 3 of the High Speed to Hastings & Bexhill initiative (the railway between Bexhill and Ore is already electrified to 750v DC). Currently no funding has been provided for the development of this phase, however bi-mode rolling stock can deliver the desired journey time reductions without incurring the high costs and disruption of electrification.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many dwellings in the UK have received (1) cavity wall, and (2) loft insulation since 2010; and how many applicable homes they estimate remain untreated.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published statistics provide information on insulation measures that have been delivered through the Government’s energy efficiency schemes.
Between January 2010 and September 2018 (the latest date for when data is available), there have been 2.4 million cavity wall insulation measures and 4.6 million loft insulation measures installed to homes across Great Britain.
We estimate that in Great Britain there are a further 5.3 million homes suitable for cavity wall insulation; of which 4.0 million are considered to be easy to treat; and 8.1 million homes have the potential for additional loft insulation; of which 5.8 million are considered to be easy to treat.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many homes in the UK have solar panels to generate electricity installed.
Answered by Lord Henley
At the end of September, we estimate there were 805,000 domestic solar PV installations1,2. A small proportion of homes may have more than one installation but it is not possible to identify these in the available data.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate the private rented housing sector further to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government is currently looking at policy options for setting a long-term trajectory for energy performance standards across the private rented sector, with the aim of as many private rented homes as possible being upgraded to EPC Band C by 2030, where practical, cost-effective and affordable. We intend to consult on the trajectory and policy design in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of improvements made to the A21 road since 2014; and whether such improvements have resulted in a reduction in traffic delays.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Highways England regularly monitors the performance of the Strategic Road Network to ensure its efficient operation and performance.
The A21 Tonbridge to Pembury improvement scheme started construction in Spring 2015 and was completed in summer 2017.
The impact of the completed scheme, which is expected to reduce congestion and improve journey times, will be studied next year (2019) as part of Highways England’s programme of Post Opening Project Evaluation. This will consider journey times and other features of the performance on this section of the A21.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to hosting the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in London.
Answered by Lord Henley
The next potential opportunity for the UK to host COP is the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in 2020. The UK is engaging with others to determine who is best placed to preside over COP26. Whoever takes on the COP26 Presidency in 2020 we will need to work with a wide range of partners to ensure it is a success and brings us closer to the long term goals of the Paris Agreement.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - 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 UK’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions over the past ten years relative to other major European economies.
Answered by Lord Henley
While EU Member States have all committed to taking action to reduce their emissions, the UK’s performance has been consistently strong over the past decade, reducing emissions faster than our closest European counterparts.
Furthermore, PwC’s independent Low Carbon Economy Index 2018 shows that since 2000, the UK has improved the carbon intensity of its economy faster than all other G20 countries.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration, if any, they have given to raising the ambition of the Climate Change Act 2008 targets to 100 per cent emission reductions by 2050.
Answered by Lord Henley
In October, just a week after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on 1.5 degrees, we commissioned advice from our independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, on the implications of the Paris Agreement for our long-term emissions reduction targets, including on the setting of a net zero target.
We expect to receive their response in spring 2019 and will consider their recommendations carefully.