UK Green Taxonomy

Lord Kamall Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I assure my noble friend that we will be led by science in this area. Earlier in this Question, noble Lords referred to the work of the Green Technical Advisory Group, which was set up to advise the Government on the UK green taxonomy and is informing our work in this area. There is a question about the inclusion of both gas and nuclear in the green taxonomy. The Government have not made any decisions on their inclusion, but they will engage with experts and the market before making any final decision in this area.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I also welcome my noble friend back to the Front Bench, even though the Prime Minister has fired me but not rehired me—

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I apologise; I was not after the violins. When I dealt with developing the green taxonomy in the European Parliament, we did not look only at companies that can certify themselves as green and ensure investors; we also looked at how to incentivise companies that are not yet green to become greener. How will the Government tackle that in developing their green taxonomy?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to my noble friend’s work. I saw at first hand the energy and commitment that he brought to his roles. He is absolutely right that information is the first step on this path, and it then needs to be used to ensure that firms working in all sectors make plans for transition and action to ensure that their activities are aligned with net zero by 2050. Our green finance road map sets out the path that the Government think firms can take towards that aim.