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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will set a statutory target for the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere in the UK as part of legislation under the Sixth Carbon Budget.

We have laid legislation for the UK’s sixth carbon budget, proposing a world-leading target, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. This is in line with the latest science as the level recommended by our expert advisers at the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

Analysis from the CCC shows that to achieve net zero Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) methods will be required to balance residual emissions from some of the most difficult to decarbonise sectors. Following the Government’s response to the CCC's 2020 progress report to Parliament, BEIS and HM Treasury launched a Call for evidence on the role of GGRs in delivering net zero, inviting evidence on a range of GGR methods. The Call for Evidence closed on 26 February, and we will publish a summary of responses in due course.

We will bring forward further policies and proposals to meet our carbon budgets in due course, which will consider the role that greenhouse gas removal technologies can play.