Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to allow contracts with Russian entities to be broken without becoming liable for damages.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Contracts remain a commercial matter for businesses. Where businesses seek to sever contracts with Russian entities, we recommend seeking independent legal advice. The Department for International Trade have expanded its Export Support Service (ESS) to act as a single point of enquiry for businesses and traders with questions relating to the situation in Ukraine and Russia. Any business that has question about trading with Ukraine or Russia can ask the export support team by visiting the GOV.UK website, or call our helpline using the number 0300 303 8955.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to apply a separate climate compatibility checkpoint for future (1) oil, and (2) gas, licensing on the UK mainland; and what role English local authorities will have in making the assessment of compatibility.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has invited contributions on the design of the climate compatibility checkpoint through the launch of a public consultation on 20 December 2021, closing on 28 February 2022. The consultation seeks views on the application of this checkpoint to potential future onshore licensing.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their projections for additional greenhouse gas emissions arising from the thawing of the Arctic permafrost between now and 2100; and whether these projections have been taken into account in the COP26 negotiations on reducing national carbon budgets.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The projections used by Her Majesty’s Government for additional greenhouse gas emissions arising from permafrost thaw between now and 2100 are those provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and amount to 76 [range of 14-177] gigatonne carbon dioxide equivalent per degree of warming globally, by 2100. These estimates were included in the Panel’s Sixth Assessment Report, which was officially welcomed by the UNFCCC at COP26, and taken into account in the negotiations.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their assessment of rising sea levels is based on a rise in average global temperatures, or includes modelling of Arctic and Antarctic ice melt taking into account the accelerated rise in regional temperatures at the poles.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our assessment of rising sea levels, derived from the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, includes modelling of the Arctic and Antarctic ice melt and takes accelerated rise in regional temperatures at the poles into account.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their projections for additional greenhouse gas emissions from the thawing of the Arctic permafrost are based on a global rise in temperatures or a projected rise in the temperature of the Arctic region.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The projections of additional greenhouse gas emissions from the thawing of the Arctic permafrost that are used to inform government policy are taken from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report and take Arctic regional warming rates, including effects such as polar amplification, into account.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional powers local authorities may require to meet (1) the net zero target by 2050, and (2) World Health Organisation guidelines on safe levels of air pollution.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Local authorities have a combination of powers in housing, planning, transport, and environmental permitting which allow them to take action to achieve net zero and to improve air quality.
Through the Net Zero Strategy, published on 19 October, the Government set out its commitments to enable local areas to make progress towards net zero. The strategy includes the creation of a new Local Net Zero Forum to improve collaboration net zero policies by convening national and local government senior officials.
The Government is committed to improving air quality, including through reducing a diversity of pollutants that harm both human health and the environment. The Environment Act made improvements on the Local Air Quality Management framework to enable local authorities to take more effective, co-ordinated actions to improve air quality. It will also deliver improvements to public health by ensuring local authorities have more effective powers to tackle emissions from domestic burning.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their baseline assumption of 160 years for the lifetime of a new nuclear power station, as set out in the Environment Agency guidance on sea level rise, is measured from the expected date of completion of the power station.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The effects of climate change, including sea level rise, are considered and adapted to throughout the lifetime of nuclear power stations from design and construction, through operation and on to decommissioning.
The UK’s robust regulatory framework is designed to accommodate changes in science and expert guidance, whilst ensuring appropriate assessment of the specific operating lifetime of individual stations.
Whilst the National Policy Statement sets out the siting framework and criteria (including flood and coastal erosion risks), all stations will require planning permission and environmental permits from the Environment Agency and safety licensing from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (the ONR) throughout their lifetime. This will require strong evidence from licence holders to demonstrate that the effects of climate change have been thoroughly evaluated and can be managed over the lifetime of stations.
The Environment Agency and the ONR would not allow a site to be built or to operate if they judged that it was not safe to do so.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the EU about leaving the Energy Charter Treaty.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has had no discussions with the EU on leaving the Energy Charter Treaty.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of attempts to reform the Energy Charter Treaty to remove any barriers to phasing out carbon fuels.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK supports the process to modernise the Energy Charter Treaty in a way that helps the global clean energy transition, such as the right for States to regulate to reach emissions reduction targets and a stronger focus on climate security issues. We are currently in discussions with Treaty partners over proposals to phase out investment protection for fossil fuels.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that waste incineration contracts do not hinder the delivery of the target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have already made significant progress towards meeting our net zero target. Between 1990 and 2018, our economy has grown by 75% while emissions have decreased by 43% - faster than any other G7 nation. Since 2000, we have decarbonised our economy faster than any other G20 country. We met our first and second carbon budgets that were established under the Climate Change Act 2008, and we are on track to overachieve on the third. Our forthcoming sector strategies, and wider plans to deliver a green economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, will contain further proposals to put us on track to meeting carbon budgets 4 and 5.
In 2018, waste management accounted for 4.6 per cent (20.7 MtCO2e) of total UK GHG emissions, showing significant achievement of a 69% decrease in emissions between 1990 and 2018. The government is seeking to make the UK a world leader in using resources efficiently and reducing the amount of waste we create as a society. Our Resources and Waste Strategy (2018) sets a clear longer-term policy direction in line with our 25 Year Environment Plan.
The detailed terms of waste incineration contracts are a matter for the contracting parties.