Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Gwynne Excerpts

Wednesday 9th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

Matters related to what G7 leaders are discussing will of course come forward in the communiqué at the end of that process, and that is up to the Prime Minister and his fellow leaders. What I can tell the hon. Member is that we had a successful Climate and Environment Ministers meeting of the G7, which I co-chaired together with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In that meeting, we made commitments on overwhelmingly decarbonising power systems in the 2030s in the G7 countries, but also commitments on phasing out fossil fuel support overseas.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

What steps the Government are taking to promote climate action and a green recovery from the covid-19 pandemic ahead of COP26.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

What steps the Government are taking to promote climate action and a green recovery from the covid-19 pandemic ahead of COP26.

[The COP26 President (Alok Sharma)]

The Prime Minister’s 10-point plan sets out our blueprint for a green industrial revolution. The plan invests in green technologies and industries. It leverages billions of pounds of private sector investment to create and support up to 250,000 highly skilled green jobs and level up across the UK.

[Andrew Gwynne]

And that is very welcome, but building back better after covid cannot just apply to us here in the United Kingdom; there absolutely has to be a global approach. So is the President frustrated that the big emitters such as Australia, Japan, South Korea and Russia have only resubmitted their previous climate pledges, and worse, that Brazil has backtracked on its climate pledge? What is he doing to convince them that meeting their fair share is important so that we can achieve the 45% reduction in emissions to keep our climate change within 1.5° C?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend and I agree with him completely, because I think that David Frost—Lord Frost—is doing an outstanding job. I venture to say that he is the greatest Frost since the Great Frost of 1709 or whenever it was.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has seen his adviser on ethics and standards resign over his failure to uphold the ministerial code, he has seen the head of the Government Legal Department resign over his failure to uphold international law, and he has seen his adviser on education catch-up resign over his failure to provide proper funding for children. Why does the Prime Minister think this keeps happening to him?

[The Prime Minister]

I am indebted to everybody who serves the Government in whatever capacity. We have a lot of very tough decisions to make but we will continue to get on with delivering the people’s priorities—and by the way, we will continue to ensure that we deliver value for money, that we do not waste taxpayers’ money, and that Ministers follow the ministerial code.