Clean Energy Transition Guidance

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Tuesday 8th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

Solar and wind are indeed now cheaper than existing coal and gas power plants in most of the world. Investments in fossil fuels will become increasingly risky, including for developing countries. Shifting away from fossil fuels is compelling, from both a climate and an economic perspective. The priority for the UK is to support renewable energy as the default choice, enabling us to continue to support developing countries to meet their growing energy needs and increase access to electricity, in line with both the sustainable development goals and the Paris Agreement. The UK has launched the Energy Transition Council to bring together political, financial and technical leaders, but one still has to remember that 600 million of the population of Africa have no access to any electricity.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, I am delighted to support this policy and welcome its emphasis on renewables. Will my noble friend take this opportunity to confirm that there will be a moratorium on fracking activities, either in this country or abroad, which the Government might be tempted to support? While I support helping countries urgently in need of power, it seems odd that UK Export Finance provided £47.6 million of support to build two of the largest solar plants in Spain. Will my noble friend confirm that there were no worthy projects in this country that were perhaps deprived of support from UKEF, as a result?

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

I can confirm to my noble friend that there is already a moratorium on fracking in the UK. I have been told that the UK also does not support international fracking. The moratorium came in following events during fracking operations at the end of 2019, and the Government confirm that we will take a presumption against issuing any further hydraulic fracking consents. This sends a clear message to the sector and to local communities that, on current evidence, fracking will not be taken forward in England. I am not sure of the exact details of the solar project in Spain, but I can confirm that export finance is given to projects where there is a significant benefit to the UK supply chain. If I have got that wrong, I will write and correct.