Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what measures she is taking ahead of the COP21 UN Climate Change Summit to ensure successful outcomes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government is committed to securing an ambitious legally binding, global Agreement on climate change at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in December this year.
My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, are actively engaging with their international counterparts ahead of negotiations in Paris. In June, the Prime Minister joined other G7 leaders in calling for an ambitious climate package to be agreed in Paris, strong language on future ambition and commitment to a long term decarbonisation. The Secretary of State is also engaging with her EU and international counterparts, NGOs and businesses to discuss how we can best deliver on our priorities for a Paris Agreement which includes emission reduction commitments from all countries and a regular review of mitigation ambition alongside a global long term goal, and a set of rules that ensure transparency and accountability of commitments to enable the world to track progress.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she plans to take to ensure the UK stays on course to meet its targets to reduce the use of coal and other fossil fuels.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government has put in place reforms designed to deliver a secure transition to an affordable, low-carbon electricity system.
Our projections show that, based on current policies, we expect to see around a 50% reduction in total electricity generation from fossil fuels by 2030 compared to 2014*.
*Source: DECC 2014 Updated Annual Energy & Emissions Projections, Annex J https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2014