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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the potential economic effect on the green technology sector of the withdrawal of research funding for innovative low-carbon technology programmes under the EU emissions trading system after the UK leaves the EU.

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) does not provide research funding. The terms of the Withdrawal Agreement mean that the UK will continue to participate in EU Programmes financed by the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework until their closure.

The UK is the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050. The Government’s Clean Growth Strategy sets out how we want to make sure that the UK continues to reap the benefits from the transition to a low carbon economy.

The Government has been investing over £3 billion to support low carbon innovation in the UK over the period 2015 and 2021, to ensure that the UK continues to grasp the economic opportunities of the global shift to a low carbon future, and have committed to raise total research and development investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.

This is already benefiting clean growth innovation – for example the £505 million BEIS Energy Innovation Programme, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes.