Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 21st September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

My hon. Friend will know about the North sea transition agreement, which we announced earlier this year. I share his concern about the Scottish Government’s approach to all these things. It is still very early days for that coalition, but we are watching carefully. I am sure my hon. Friend will agree that Scotland has benefited enormously from UK Government investment in renewables. On the contract for difference scheme, for example, 20 of the 58 projects that have been awarded CfDs to date are in Scotland. That represents 34% of all CfD projects and 21% of total CfD capacity. My hon. Friend is right that the UK Government are delivering for Scotland.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking in response to the Climate Change Committee’s 2021 annual progress report to Parliament.

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Greg Hands)]

The Government are carefully considering the Climate Change Committee’s progress report and will respond to it in full as part of our forthcoming net zero strategy ahead of COP26. That strategy, which will outline our path to meet net zero by 2050, will contain policies and proposals that will allow the Government to respond substantively to the report’s recommendations.

[Jeff Smith]

Well, it needs to, because the report was pretty damning. The Environmental Audit Committee recently made a number of recommendations to support community energy projects such as Greater Manchester Community Renewables in my constituency. Will the Minister emphasise the importance of community energy in the upcoming net zero strategy, as recommended specifically by the Committee, and put in place some practical measures to harness the potential of community energy, including support to enable groups to get investment for energy transition projects?

[Greg Hands]

Yes, of course we take community renewable initiatives very seriously indeed. We also take the Environmental Audit Committee very seriously indeed and I look forward to appearing before its Chair, my right hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Philip Dunne), in due course.

The hon. Gentleman is wrong to say that the CCC progress report was damning. For example, the report says:

“The UK has a leading record in reducing its own emissions”,

and:

“The UK has been a strong contributor to international climate finance”.

Recently, John Kerry himself, the President’s special envoy on climate, praised the UK approach.