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 (a) end subsidies to the fossil fuel-based energy industry, (b) phase out fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure and (c) accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy within the 11-year timeframe set out in the IPCC report to limit temperature rise this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius published on 8 October 2018.

Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face today, and the UK is committed to tackling it. We have set a new net zero greenhouse gas emissions target for the UK, to be delivered by 2050. This world-leading target will bring to an end our contribution to climate change, and makes us the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions.

We are taking steps to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. We project that oil and gas will play a smaller role in meeting the UK’s demand for energy over time, although there will continue to be a need for oil and gas as we transition to a low-carbon economy. We have committed to introducing legislation to phase out unabated coal-fired power generation in Great Britain from 1 October 2025 whilst supporting renewables. UK-wide coal consumption is now at its lowest recorded level since the start of the industrial revolution and over half of our electricity came from low carbon sources last year.

The UK uses a definition of fossil fuel subsidies developed with the EC and other G20 EU Member States to respond to the G20 commitment to phase out such subsidies. The definition, based on the approach of the International Energy Agency, is – “A fossil-fuel subsidy is any government measure or program with the objective or direct consequence of reducing below world-market prices, including all costs of transport, refining and distribution, the effective cost for fossil fuels paid by final consumers, or of reducing the costs or increasing the revenues of fossil-fuel producing companies.” The UK has no fossil fuel subsidies.