Oral Answers to Questions

Christopher Chope Excerpts

Tuesday 7th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We know that active cooling systems will be really important to manage overheating in buildings. That is why we announced that we will extend support under the boiler upgrade scheme to include air-to-air heat pumps, which offer both heating and cooling. These grants make £2,500 available for installation of those systems, and air-to-air heat pumps are also included in the VAT relief scheme for energy-saving materials, which are currently subject to 0% VAT. It is a very important issue for the future.

[Sir Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)]

The Climate Change Committee has condemned the Government for failing and falling short of adapting to climate change and accepting the reality as it is, which is that by the end of this century, global temperatures will have increased to between 3.5° and 4.5° above pre-industrial levels. What are the Government doing to adapt, rather than trying to prevent this from happening?

[Ed Miliband]

The hon. Gentleman and I have had this discussion before. This is a very, very important point: of course, we have to do more on adaptation, but the idea that we give up on tackling the climate crisis is grossly irresponsible. Why? Because the costs will become enormous and unmanageable. We have had this discussion at the Select Committee before. We have got to do both. He will see, as somebody who is concerned about our economy, that we simply cannot say, “We’re going to just let climate change run away to 3.5° or 4°,” as he was saying, which would have massive impacts on our population. We have to keep to the Paris agreement and adapt as well.