Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will sign the Climate Intelligence World Climate Declaration; and, if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The World Climate Declaration is not consistent with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report, the most authoritative assessment of climate science globally, and the Government has no plans to sign it.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the cost of sending the UK delegation to the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai, how many UK representatives this covers, and how many of them travelled by (1) private, and (2) public, jet aircraft.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Although the COP28 climate conference concluded on the 13th December, it is not yet possible to put an accurate figure on the cost of attendance by the UK delegation, as final costs will need to be gathered and reviewed. A total cost will be available for audit in January 2024 at the earliest.
The UK Delegation included 11 Ministers from multiple departments.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Climate Declaration.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has not made a specific assessment of the World Climate Declaration but uses a range of scientific evidence to inform government policy, in particular the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is the global authority on climate science.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in pursuit of their Net Zero strategy, they will enquire into the relationship between the price obtainable for newly cut timber in the UK, and that paid for wood pellets under their Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme pays for heat generated by participants. It does not pay for the supply of wood.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Callanan (HL5765 and HL3971), whether the World Climate Declaration has been taken into account in Government policy, whether in the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or otherwise.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has not made a specific assessment of the World Climate Declaration but uses a range of scientific evidence to inform government policy, in particular the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is the global authority on climate science. The World Climate Declaration will not have been assessed as part of the latest IPCC report, as it was published after the literature cut-off date of October 2021, the time by which literature must have been published to be included in the assessment. In addition, the IPCC primarily assesses peer reviewed literature from scientific journals.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Callanan on 8 February (HL Deb col 1218), what assessment they have made of the World Climate Declaration.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to him on 16th December 2022 to Question HL3971.