Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to secure a legally-binding global climate agreement.

If we are to meet the objective of the Convention and avoid dangerous climate change, it is imperative that we secure an international, legally binding agreement with mitigation commitments for all in Paris in 2015.

To facilitate this I have pressed our case at a number of international ministerial climate change meetings this year, as well as bilaterally with my counterparts in governments and with other key actors across the globe – including China, the US and India – at incoming and outgoing visits. I will, as usual, attend the UNFCCC Ministerial Conference of Parties in December this year, and will also attend the UN Secretary General’s climate summit in September; the first meeting of leaders focused solely on climate change since 2009.

Closer to home I am continuing to push for EU agreement to an ambitious 2030 emissions reduction target of at least 40%, including through convening the Green Growth Group of Ministers.