Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Oral Answers to Questions

Imran Hussain Excerpts
Thursday 19th November 2015

(9 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Andrea Leadsom Portrait Andrea Leadsom
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The hon. Lady will know that the UK has an enormous nuclear legacy dating back to the 1940s and ’50s. A huge amount of work is being done at Sellafield and other sites to dispose safely of that nuclear waste. As she will know, the budget is extremely large—in the region of £3 billion—but that money is being spent to deal safely with this very long legacy. I can assure her, however, that new nuclear creates far less waste. We are planning a geological disposal facility to make sure that future taxpayers have nothing like that legacy to deal with.

Imran Hussain Portrait Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)
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11. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for International Development on preparations for the Paris climate conference in December 2015.

Amber Rudd Portrait The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)
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I have been working closely with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development to secure an ambitious global deal in Paris. Tackling climate change and promoting sustainable development are two sides of the same coin. We cannot achieve one without the other. We cannot end extreme poverty any other way. The global goals established earlier this year provide a clear framework for sustainable development, with full integration of climate and environment goals.

Imran Hussain Portrait Imran Hussain
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It is vital that we reach a binding agreement on tackling climate change in December, and I, too, welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement about closing coal-fired power stations by 2025, as it sets a strong example to other countries. Will she go further, though, and state what percentage cut in emissions by 2030 she is pushing for?