Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to set targets for the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming.

The UK was the first country in the world to set legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, under the Climate Change Act 2008. The Act requires us to reduce emissions by at least 80% against 1990 levels by 2050, with carbon budgets (caps on emissions over a five year period) to take us on steps down towards this target. Since 1990, we have cut emissions by 42% while our economy has grown by two thirds.

The Fifth Carbon Budget (covering 2028-32) was passed into law on 21 July 2016. This budget is set in line with the recommendation of our independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, at 1,725 MtCO2e, equivalent to a 57% reduction on 1990 levels.

In October, the Government published the Clean Growth Strategy, which sets out our plans for cutting emissions, while keeping costs down for consumers, creating good jobs and growing the economy.