Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of regulating embodied carbon to help meet net zero targets.

Last year, the Government consulted on the possible introduction of Mandatory Product Standards, in other words regulations to limit the embodied emissions of products.

In response, the previous Government set out it would not commit to introducing Mandatory Product Standards for any specific sector at that stage. Instead, it was planning to focus on introducing Voluntary Product Standards, which would be a necessary first step.

Voluntary Product Standards will establish definitions of low carbon products that can be used as a basis for policies such as green public procurement. The Government plans to consult on these standards in due course.