Climate Change

Katie White Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Katie White)]

That got a little bit feisty at the end, didn’t it? I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) for securing today’s debate. He is a fantastic advocate for climate and nature, both in his constituency and as chair of the APPG on climate change. I know that he has been pushing for this debate for a long time, so I am grateful for the opportunity to set out the Government’s position in detail today.

I also thank the hon. Members for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) and for Bristol Central (Carla Denyer) for their contributions. I have enjoyed our collaborative work and feel sure that they welcome our clean jobs plan. I endeavour to work with them on a happier outcome.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) for his typically eloquent overview. He pointed out something that is often missing, as indeed it was in the Opposition’s plan, which is that we have to invest in our energy infrastructure. We have a choice in where we make those investment choices.

I thank, too, the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for her contribution. We have worked very closely together on oceans, and I am glad that she recognises the crucial progress that this Government have made. I also hope that she recognises that our warm homes plan is the biggest upgrade in British history. We always welcome people with new ideas, but I think recognition of how far we have come is also good.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) outlined the risks as well as the opportunities available in this area. I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) that, since taking on this role, I have been to Derby North more times than anywhere else. I also thank the students from Reigate Park primary—I look forward to reading to them. The hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young) must be celebrating our nuclear plans, but I very much recognise her focus on innovation.

[Claire Young]

I would just like to apologise to the Minister for my over-enthusiasm earlier in extolling the virtues of my area. I would also like to ask her to visit my constituency to see the opportunities for herself and to discuss with me the barriers that we face.

[Katie White]

I thank the hon. Lady very much for her kind invitation. I will consider it and get back to her.

Finally, I thank the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), who raised some important issues around health. He also championed the role of science. I too have always thought that science is crucial, but since entering this role, I have found British scientists to be fabulous. They are at the heart of telling us what the problems are and at the heart of innovation, so I pay tribute to them.

I want to assure the House that this Government remain totally committed to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and that doing so is at the heart of our agenda. As my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke knows, we have been talking about these issues for more than two decades, which means that we can sometimes become desensitised to the urgency of the challenge. But we in this House have a responsibility to be honest about the gravity of what is at stake. The truth is that the world is getting hotter at an alarming rate—the past decade has seen the 10 warmest years ever. The Amazon has seen the worst droughts on record, partly as a result of deforestation, and in the Arctic and Antarctic global warming is driving geopolitical competition over the resources lying beneath the ice.

I recently spoke to Ministers from the Caribbean who told me about the horrific damage caused by Hurricane Melissa. Here in Britain, we are in no way immune, with recent storms such as Goretti flooding homes and cutting off power. Heavy rainfall has cost farmers hundreds of millions of pounds, which was referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin (Alistair Strathern). Extreme heatwaves have disrupted almost every aspect of our lives.

The Office for Budget Responsibility is also clear that rising temperatures pose a huge threat to our economy and could wipe billions off our GDP in the years to come if we do not act. That is why, as our national security strategy sets out, tackling climate change and nature loss is vital for both global stability and our national resilience. As the Prime Minister said, there can be no national security without climate security. Let me be clear, though, where we face severe challenges, we are absolutely capable of meeting them. We are the generations with the power and the opportunity to act and build a cleaner, more secure and more prosperous future for our children and grandchildren. That is why we are stepping up on the global stage once again and showing real leadership with our mission to achieve clean power by 2030 and accelerate to net zero across the economy.

[Bill Esterson]

I know that we are talking about the climate, but the events in Iran are a salutary reminder of the need to take action because of the reliance on global fossil-fuel prices. A new report from Reuters suggests that 17% of Qatar’s next five years of LNG supply has been destroyed by the overnight attacks. Does that not remind us how critical it is, for the energy security reasons that my hon. Friend set out, as well as for the climate reasons, that we get off the roller coaster of fossil fuels as fast as possible?

[Katie White]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. He is exactly right. When it comes to our energy policy, the way that we work at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is by balancing the trio of emissions and environmental concerns, energy security, and price. It is within that trio that we operate all our policies.

The transition to clean energy is a historic opportunity to improve people’s lives in this country. It is the route not only to lower emissions and climate security—vital though they are—but to lower bills, warmer homes and cleaner air. It is the best way to revive industrial regions and create good jobs and new opportunities for young people.

As the unfolding conflict in the middle east reminds us, home-grown, clean energy is also the way to ensure our energy independence and protect British people from the impacts of events beyond our borders. As we saw four years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine, as long as our energy costs are set by international oil and gas markets, we will always be exposed to price shocks. That is why accelerating the shift to clean, domestic power is a national security imperative, not a “nice to have”.

The Climate Change Committee has been clear on that too. Its recent advice on carbon budget 7 confirmed that delivering the clean energy transition is the most cost-effective path ahead for the UK economy. In fact, its research shows that household bills would rise by nearly 60% from a future fossil-fuel spike if we fail to deliver on our clean power mission. Pursuing this path is therefore not an agenda or activism—and I can assure the shadow Minister that I am not a purist. It is common sense, and it is our patriotic and economic duty.

We have made huge progress in the less than two years that we have been in power. Since July 2024, over £90 billion of investment has been announced for home-grown, clean energy. We have lifted the onshore wind ban in England and approved record amounts of renewable energy. We have launched Great British Energy—our first publicly owned energy company for 70 years—and we have kick-started our new golden age of nuclear with the greatest investment in new nuclear power for half a century, including plans for our first small modular reactors at Wylfa on Anglesey. We also held Europe’s biggest ever offshore wind auction, alongside the largest ever procurement of solar projects in the UK, collectively securing enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 16 million homes. At the heart of this mission is a determination to support communities and create the good clean energy jobs of the future.

Last week I visited the Bridgend Ravens rugby club in Wales, which has just partnered with Electricity Cymru to install solar panels and LED lighting. This has slashed the club’s bills and allowed them to host the country’s first carbon-neutral rugby game. At a nuclear skills academy in Derby, I was lucky enough to meet—and was massively impressed by—Gracie, a 17-year-old apprentice who is the fourth generation in her family, and the first female, to train up to work in the clean energy revolution. She recognised that she is in the right place at the right time: helping to tackle the climate crisis, drive growth and ensure our energy security.

I know that there are those who doubt the impact that Britain can have on global emissions, but they underestimate this country’s potential and forget that we have already made a huge difference. We were the first country to pass a climate change Act and set up our own independent body on climate change—a move since been replicated by over 70 countries.

I would like to take a moment to applaud the Conservatives for their leadership at COP26. It is evident that the choices that we make in Britain influence the course of global action and, in doing so, help to protect future generations here and abroad from the impacts of the climate crisis. Our clean energy mission at home gives us the perfect platform to continue leading by example on the world stage. People want us to show leadership. They see what is happening in the world and they expect us to play our part.

I am pleased to confirm that the UK has delivered on our commitment to spend at least £11.6 billion on international climate finance over five years by the end of this financial year. We are working to ensure that that money makes a genuine difference for those on the frontline of the climate crisis, supporting stability and security across the world. Since 2011, we have helped 137 million people adapt to the effects of climate change, whether it is creating a renewable-powered clean water supply in Mexico or building infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather in the Caribbean. We have also provided 89 million people with improved access to clean energy, including solar-powered cold storage to help prevent food waste in Kenya—[Interruption.] I will speed up a little, as I hear the Whip’s cough. We have made more commitments, including a £6 billion commitment to international climate finance. On top of that, we will generate an additional £6.7 billion of UK-backed climate and nature-positive investments.

To those who still doubt the effectiveness of global climate action, I say this: before the Paris agreement in 2015, the world was on track for 4°C of global warming by 2010, but thanks to the commitments made since, we have brought that down to 2.3° to 2.5°. That is still a terrifying figure, but the difference for millions of people around the world is literally life or death. It is also a source of optimism, because it shows that the ambition is there.

I remind the House that keeping 1.5° in reach is only half the story. The crisis in Iran and the Gulf is yet another wake-up call to the fact that the UK’s energy system does not work. Our critics like to talk about the cost of transition, but the previous Government spent £44 billion on supporting households and businesses after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are totally committed to clean energy, to working with partners around the world to keep the Paris goal within reach, and to building a secure, more prosperous Britain for today and for future generations.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call Luke Murphy to sum up very, very quickly.