Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of hypothecating revenue from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme revenue for spending on (a) industrial decarbonisation R&D, (b) industrial decarbonisation project grants and (c) subsidies for low carbon production.

Receipts from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is not hypothecated towards specific projects. A floating carbon price means that revenue from the scheme is uncertain. Receipts currently help to fund public services including the Net Zero transition, such as:

• The £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio continues to help accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings, and industry.
• The £210 million Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge, delivered through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) continues to support the engineering and technical design elements of decarbonisation projects across industrial clusters.
• In March, the Government announced a further £185m extension to the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), increasing total grant funding available to £500 million.
• The Chancellor also announced in March an unprecedented £20 billion investment in the early development of CCUS to help meet the Government’s climate commitments.
• He also confirmed the first 15 winning projects from the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, and announced a shortlist of 20 projects for due diligence in the first electrolytic hydrogen allocation round.