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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help the British steel industry to decarbonise.

Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution.

The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’.

Our recent and on-going work to support the steel sector includes:

o Announcing the £250m Clean Steel Fund to support the decarbonisation of the steel sector, including its transition to new low carbon technologies and processes.

o The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund. This £315m fund aims to support businesses, including those in the steel sector, with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emissions.

o The newly re-constituted Steel Council offers the forum for government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future.