Climate Change

Harriet Cross Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Katie White]

I will keep going for a bit if that is okay.

This is a market solution to a generational challenge, providing certainty about the destination while allowing competition, innovation and enterprise to determine the journey, and the results can be seen across the country. On the day we laid this order before Parliament, new analysis showed that Britain’s net zero economy now supports more than 1 million jobs and generated £105 billion for the UK economy alone. We see that opportunity in carbon capture projects in Teesside, in new nuclear at Sizewell C in Suffolk, and in companies across the country building the technologies, supply chains and industries that will power the next chapter of British economic growth.

Indeed, as more than 75,000 people have descended on London for London Climate Action Week this week—taking part in over 1,300 events and helping to broker deals, partnerships and investments that will shape the global economy for years to come—they are doing so in a city that has established itself as the sustainable finance capital of the world. That is why support for this framework extends far beyond Government. The British Chambers of Commerce says these plans provide “greater certainty for…firms”. The CBI describes the green economy as

“a powerhouse of job creation and economic expansion”.

E.ON says that

“the prize is bigger than emissions alone.”

Business leaders, manufacturers and investors are all making the same argument. In a world competing for capital, talent and innovation, long-term certainty is not a burden on growth; it is one of the foundations of it.

Secondly, if the economic case for action is increasingly clear, so is the security case. Climate change has become a central concern not just for scientists and policy makers, but for our country’s military leaders, intelligence chiefs and security experts. On the agenda for the Munich security conference, climate change sits alongside geopolitical conflict and nuclear proliferation as one of the defining risks of our age. That assessment is increasingly shared across Britain’s own security establishment. Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston has said it

“threatens global resilience and our shared security and prosperity.”

Baroness Manningham-Buller, the former director general of MI5, has said it is clear that climate change is the “greatest threat” we face. Lieutenant General Nugee has said:

“Climate change is not an abstract environmental issue. It is now a core national security risk.”

These are not campaigners or commentators; they have served their country and are people who have spent their careers identifying risks before they become crises and preparing our country for threats before they arrive.

Climate change is often discussed as an environmental challenge, yet it is increasingly showing up elsewhere in conversations about food security, energy security, national resilience and the basic responsibility of Government to protect their citizens from foreseeable risks. The framework before the House is not just about reducing emissions; it is part of the long-term work of making Britain safer, stronger and less vulnerable in a more uncertain world.

Thirdly and finally, we should see this transition for what it really is: one of the greatest upgrade projects in our country’s history. Too often, debates about climate change become trapped in the language of targets, regulations and emissions, but when future generations look back on this period, they are unlikely to remember the technical details of carbon budgets or policy frameworks. What they will remember is that this was the moment Britain began upgrading the system that underpins modern life.

Every generation has had its national upgrade. Previous generations built the railways that connected our country, electrified our towns and cities, brought clean water into people’s homes, connected millions of households to the gas grid and transformed the way people travelled, worked and lived. Our generation’s task is no different. We are upgrading an energy system that leaves us exposed to volatile fossil fuel markets and replacing it with one powered increasingly by clean electricity generated here at home. We are upgrading homes and technology that allow families to generate, store and manage their own energy. We are upgrading transport, upgrading industry and upgrading infrastructure that in many cases was designed for a different century and a different economy.

That is not a marginal adjustment to the economy we have today; it is a fundamental upgrade to how Britain powers itself, and the prize is enormous. Our analysis shows that clean power and electrification could save families and businesses £445 billion in fossil fuel spending over the next 25 years. Cleaner air could mean up to 8,000 fewer hospital admissions every year by 2050 and around £80 billion in health benefits, while action to restore nature could deliver a further £50 billion-worth of benefits.

[Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Katie White]

No, I will make some progress.

Those benefits include greater protection from flooding, cleaner rivers and greater biodiversity.

But this is not simply about what we avoid; it is about what we build. Across the world, more than $2 trillion is now invested in clean energy every year—roughly twice the amount invested in fossil fuels. It is where global capital is flowing, where industries are being built and where future economic advantage will increasingly be won. I make no apology for Britain competing for that opportunity. I do not want our country watching from the sidelines while others capture the jobs, industries and investment of the future. I want Britain helping to shape that future and benefiting from it.

Let me finish by saying this. Long before I entered this House and long before I became a Minister, I was one of the many people involved in the wider effort that helped to build support for the Climate Change Act, which is one of the most significant and widely supported pieces of cross-party legislation this country has ever passed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) (Lab)]

I declare an interest as chair of the climate and nature crisis caucus. I also refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

It is a pleasure to speak in support of the Carbon Budget Order 2026. As I stand here, the UK is experiencing a frightening heatwave and a rare red weather warning, which means a risk to all, not just the vulnerable. That is how hot it is outside. Another heat record has been absolutely smashed. It was 36.1°C last time I checked, but who knows if it has gone up in the minutes that we have been sitting here? Surely Opposition Members cannot now bury their heads in the red-hot sand and deny that climate change is real. It is coming fast, and we are living through it right now.

[Harriet Cross]

This is incredibly frustrating. Scrutiny is not the same as climate change denial. Asking questions on behalf of our constituents, industries, households and businesses that will front the costs of this measure is not climate change denial. Will the hon. Member and the rest of the Labour Members here recognise that?

[Olivia Blake]

I wonder whether the hon. Member will vote against this measure. That would tell her constituents very clearly her view on this matter.

Back in 2008, under a Labour Government, the UK became the first country to introduce a comprehensive climate framework through the Climate Change Act, which set out the legally binding five-year carbon budgets that we have been reviewing and looking at. As has been said, with carbon budget 6 we did not get the opportunity for scrutiny that we should have got. That legislation was groundbreaking and ensured that Governments can be held to account for delivering long-term climate action. I thank the Minister for her efforts to bring that about.

Nearly two decades later, we can see the impact of that foresight. The UK has successfully halved its territorial greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990 levels, as we have heard, with much of that progress driven by decarbonisation of the energy system. That is a significant national achievement that we should all be proud of, and it is evidence that ambitious climate policy can deliver real results. It is therefore fitting that it once again falls to a Labour Government to confront one of the defining challenges of our times.

The seventh carbon budget commits the UK to reducing emissions by 87% by 2040 compared with 1990 levels. If achieved, that will mark substantial progress towards our legally binding commitment to reach net zero by 2050. However, at present the UK is built for a climate that no longer exists. The economic impacts are staggering, costing the UK economy around £60 billion a year—about 2% of GDP and rising—through things such as flood damage, loss of crops and other forms of weather damage.

We should also be mindful of the growing environmental footprint of our digital infrastructure. As data centres expand across the UK to meet rising demand, their substantial energy consumption underlines why decarbonising our power system is not simply an environmental imperative, but an economic one. That would provide more opportunities in that space.

I welcome this budget. As we know, climate action is about more than meeting targets; it is about building a country where children are not exposed to toxic air, and where we have warmer, well-insulated homes, lower energy bills and greater energy security. It is about ensuring that future generations inherit a safer and more sustainable world.

However, support for the Government’s ambition should not mean complacency about the scale of the challenge ahead. We face many interconnected crises, such as the climate crisis, the cost of living crisis and the nature emergency. Families continue to face high energy costs, while communities increasingly experience the impacts of flooding and extreme weather. The answer is not to slow down the transition and make things worse, but to accelerate it in a way that delivers tangible benefits for our communities.

--- Later in debate ---

[Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)]

I will use my time to draw attention to parts of the impact assessment, because we are, after all, debating the carbon budget.

First, this budget allows for 37% of our energy consumption by 2040 still to come from oil and gas. The Climate Change Committee itself is allowing for oil and gas to be included in our energy mix into the years to come. On that basis, why are the Government still committed to banning new licences in the North sea? Why are they still committed to the energy profits levy? Why are they still stopping the permitting of Rosebank and Jackdaw? All that will do is increase our imports of more carbon-intensive oil and gas, which is not good for the climate, economy or jobs in the UK. That point can also be found in the impact assessment.

Secondly, reaching the carbon budget will require an “electrification of industry”. That means a reduction in our industrial capacity. The electrification of steel means a move away from blast furnaces, which will mean we lose our virgin steel capacity. Virgin steel is used for other industries as well, such as defence and civil nuclear, so we are going to hinder our civil nuclear capacity by reducing our virgin steel capacity.

Thirdly, the impact assessment—I hope Members have read it, but I am not so sure—says that

“a faster transition to renewables will not eliminate global supply chain risks.”

It is not true, no matter how often it is said, that reducing our reliance on oil and gas and upscaling renewables makes us less vulnerable to global pressures. It does not. This impact assessment says it does not. We must recognise that everything has a cost and a risk, including renewables.

I will bring my remarks to an end shortly, because I do not want to speak for too long. We must be realistic and pragmatic. As my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Lewis Cocking) pointed out, this carbon budget assumes that we will reduce our meat and dairy consumption by 25%. It assumes that we will put a cost on households of thousands of pounds, which far exceeds any £300 saving on energy bills, were this Government to achieve it.

China is not putting these costs on businesses or households, and it is not closing down its domestic industries. China is opening 50 to 70 GW of new coal every year. It has almost 1,200 coal-fired power stations, which it is using to export its renewables technology to us—it does not make sense. China is responsible for over a third of global emissions, and we are responsible for 1%. We are not making a difference to global climate change by impoverishing our businesses, industries and households. We said that we wanted to lead, but there is no point in leading if nobody is following. The key players are not following.

[Pippa Heylings]

Can the hon. Lady confirm by when China said it will meet its net zero commitment?

[Harriet Cross]

I am sure the hon. Lady has a gotcha for me on that one. I believe it has either not set a target or it is 20 years, but I could not tell her which.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

I would be grateful to my hon. Friend if she reminded the House by what share of the vote our hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen South (Douglas Lumsden) was returned on a platform of increasing drilling.

[Harriet Cross]

My hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen South (Douglas Lumsden) was returned on 50% of the vote because of the people who actually feel this. The jobs of the residents of Aberdeen South and north-east Scotland are being lost, daily and monthly, because of the rundown of the oil and gas sector and because of the eco-zealotry of this Government, who want to hit their net zero target faster than anyone else. That is the reality, and it is costing jobs and livelihoods.

I have knocked on hundreds, probably thousands, of doors in Aberdeen South in the last month. I have met so many people in their 30s and early 40s, with young children, who lost their job because of this Government’s anti-North sea oil and gas policies. I do not call them anti-oil and gas policies, because the Government will happily take it from abroad. They will happily import liquefied natural gas and Russian-derived oil and gas products; they just do not want oil and gas products from the UK.

Until we get over the obsession with running down our own industries, and with meeting a target that no one else is aiming for, the UK will suffer. Our industries, skilled workers and future economy will suffer. No other country will follow us if we do that. No other country is looking at the UK as an example. They are looking at the UK as an opportunity to export more of their refined goods and their manufacturing, because they know we are running down our industries here, but they will not copy our lead on reducing emissions because they can see the impact it is having on our economy and our energy bills.

We are missing so many opportunities. Who is going to invest in AI and data centres here when we have four times the electricity costs of the US? They just will not, as there is no incentive. Driving down our agriculture to hit a net zero target is madness. We need food, which I hope is not controversial, but all we will do is import more. All that driving down the amount of our agriculture will do is free up more land for the Government to put solar panels on, which might help them with their target, but it is not going to help with our food production, and nor will it help our rural communities.

I will happily vote against these measures today. I have happily read the impact assessment, and I do not believe that this is best for my constituents, best for the country or best for the economy.