Net-zero Emissions Target: Fossil Fuel Extraction Projects Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness Hayman
Main Page: Baroness Hayman (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Hayman's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(2 years, 9 months ago)
Lords ChamberIt is strange; I thought the Liberal Democrats were in favour of local planning control—obviously not in these particular cases. As the noble Lord is aware, that application is subject to an application in the Court of Appeal at the moment, and therefore I cannot comment on it.
My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. The Prime Minister said in the Statement we will discuss later:
“This is the moment when we must turn words into action.”
Is it not also the moment when we need to adopt a consistent and transparent stance on all new fossil fuel projects? Would the Minister agree that the Government would be aided in this if they adopted the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to have a net-zero test against all new policies and over all new departments?
The noble Baroness makes an important point. We are indeed following the advice of the Climate Change Committee, which has accepted the need for oil and gas as we proceed to net zero. I remind the noble Baroness that we have the fastest decarbonisation rate of any G7 country. So we are proceeding on the path to decarbonisation, but is unrealistic to expect that we can just turn off the oil and gas supplies tomorrow.