Oral Answers to Questions

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Thursday 19th November 2015 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. What steps she is taking to ensure that the UK meets its EU renewable energy target by 2020.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

5. What assessment she has made of the UK’s progress towards meeting its EU renewables target by 2020.

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)]

We are making good progress towards our 15% renewable energy target for 2020, and I am confident that we will meet the next interim target of 5.4%, with provisional figures showing that 6.3% of final energy consumption for 2013 and 2014 came from renewable sources.

[Rachael Maskell]

With the UN climate change conference just days away, on top of renewables subsidies being removed we have learned that the UK will fall significantly short of its renewable energy target. While Labour led global talks, is the Secretary of State going to Paris to learn about the consequences of her cuts or to apologise to future generations?

[Amber Rudd]

I am delighted to say that there will be plenty of opportunities during this Session to talk about Paris, and I look forward to doing so. On the specific question of the renewables target, I repeat to the hon. Lady that we are making good progress at the moment. [Interruption.] There are issues, but we are expecting to exceed our interim target. There is more to do, and I am delighted to say that I am working across Government with the Department for Transport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure that we do it.