Net-zero Emissions Target: Affordability

Baroness Curran Excerpts

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Curran (Lab)]

My Lords and Ladies, I am delighted to speak in this debate this afternoon and to follow the noble Lord, Lord Offord. This is only my second speech in this House, and I am pleased to make it on such a vital subject. I look forward to the maiden speech of my noble friend later.

The specific focus on affordability is welcome, but it gives me cause for concern. I thought it would imply, but it clearly states, the objective that we cannot now afford our commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050. Of course, the most fundamental response to that is: we cannot afford not to. I am tempted to speculate that the shift of policy that the noble Lord refers to perhaps reflects some internal political considerations on behalf of the Conservative Party, but I do not intend to get into that temptation and indulge in any political discussion, because this is too serious and too urgent. We must maintain our focus on the realities of climate change and the necessity of delivering on our commitment to net-zero targets.

None the less, I accept the value of questioning the viability and the detail of targets, because we must guarantee that they are realistic and deliverable. My experience in Scotland is a case in point. The Scottish Government have chased headlines with targets ahead of the UK, without taking the necessary actions, as has been clear to all. Now, their targets are deemed unrealistic, following a damning assessment by the Climate Change Committee, thus undermining the credibility of those targets. Setting targets that cannot be met proves counterproductive and breeds cynicism.

I stand here as a hard-headed Glaswegian who has learned to be sceptical of unworkable, even if worthy, targets. I have lived through industrial and energy transitions that have blighted communities and have blighted generations, and I am on alert for leaders who promise change but do not put in place the means or resources to deliver fair and positive results. But I say to noble Lords and Ladies this afternoon that that is not an excuse for inaction. Yes, question the target and examine the evidence, but avoiding action for reasons of political expediency is unforgivable and is an abject failure of leadership.

In considering the evidence that I argue we should examine this afternoon, let me refer to the words of a Minister in the other place:

“Our latest estimates put the costs of net zero at under 2% of GDP—broadly similar to when we legislated for it … with scope for costs of low-carbon technologies to fall faster than expected”.—[Official Report, Commons, 7/9/21; col. 139.]


That was in 2021, and the Minister making that statement was none other than Kemi Badenoch. Her current repositioning has raised alarm across the political spectrum, not least from our former Prime Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady May, who stated that the target

“is supported by the scientific community and backed by the independent Climate Change Committee as being not just necessary but feasible and cost-effective”.

Moreover, no one should be permitted to make claims about the costs of achieving the net-zero target without factoring in the costs of doing nothing. As the OBR has recently stated,

“unmitigated climate change would ultimately have catastrophic economic and fiscal consequences for the UK”,

and that reality must be faced too. That is why clean energy is properly a central mission of this Government and helps us to maintain our commitment to net zero.

The CBI has said:

“Now is not the time to step back from the opportunities”


of green jobs, warm homes and energy security. It also found that the net zero economy is growing three times faster than the overall UK economy. As has been referenced, we must of course consider the future of the North Sea in all of this—and it is the clean energy mission that offers a hope for the future for the North Sea, with its incredible clean-energy potential.

We know that the North Sea is a maturing basin. Oil and gas production has seen a natural decline of 72% from 1999 to 2023. The industry has lost around one-third of its workforce over the past decade. Oil and gas will, of course, continue to play an important role for decades to come, but we must seize the opportunities of the clean energy transition, harnessing the North Sea’s unique strengths—offshore infrastructure, highly skilled engineers and deep supply chains, boosted enormously of course by the establishment of Great British Energy in Aberdeen.

As I say, I am that hard-headed Glaswegian, and I am clear that as Glaswegians we like to think that we see it as we find it and tell it as it is—and so we must. Of course, as the noble Lord said, we must face the stark realities, as he put it. The stark reality that we must face is climate change and what it will do to us; it is here and it will impact on all our lives. So let us galvanise around the clean energy mission and deliver the targets, because that is the future that our people need.