Economic Growth: Carbon Emissions

(asked on 27th April 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his UN speech of 6 March 2020, whether his statement that green growth is absolutely possible is based on evidence (a) that absolute decoupling of gross domestic product growth from greenhouse gas emissions has occurred in relation to (a) consumption-based emissions incorporating the overseas impacts of UK economic activity and (b) the UK’s equitable contribution to the 1.5 degree temperature goal of the Paris climate agreement; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Kwasi Kwarteng Portrait
Kwasi Kwarteng
This question was answered on 5th May 2020

Green Growth is absolutely possible. Between 1990 and 2018, the UK reduced emissions by 43% while growing our economy by 75% – decarbonising our economy faster than any other G20 country since 2000. The latest statistics show that UK emissions on a consumption basis (including emissions embedded in imports) also fell by 21 per cent between 2007 and 2017. Last year, the UK became the first major economy to legislate to achieve net zero emissions. This will continue to enable us to meet our climate change obligations, including those made under the Paris Agreement, and – as stated by the Committee on Climate Change – goes beyond the reduction needed globally to hold the expected rise in global average temperature to well below 2°C.

Reticulating Splines