Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding her Department has allocated to the President of the 26th Conference of the Parties.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
To date, BEIS has not allocated any funding to the President of the 26th Conference of the Parties.
BEIS is fully committed to supporting the cross-government effort to deliver COP26 led by the Cabinet Office although the precise amount to be funded by BEIS is still to be determined.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what objectives the Government has set for the UK Presidency of the 26th Conference of the Parties.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The world is not on track to meet the targets set by the Paris Agreement in 2015 of limiting average global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees and pursuing efforts for 1.5 degrees. 2020 is a critical moment, five years on from Paris to raise ambition.
Through COP26, we will build on momentum from the recent UN Climate Action Summit, and upcoming COP25 in Chile.
Specifically, we will seek to push the highest possible ambition, through new or updated nationally determined contributions in advance of COP26; and commitments from countries, regions, businesses that set a course for net zero by 2050.
We will seek to drive ambitious action in areas with the highest potential for transformational change, building on areas of UK strength. Decisions on priority themes will be made in due course.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what her Department’s strategic priorities will be for the 26th Conference of the Parties UN Climate Conference in 2020.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
BEIS is committed to supporting the central objective of raising global climate ambition, and to seizing the opportunity that COP26 presents to showcase UK capabilities and drive the net zero transition domestically and internationally.
COP26 – with 30,000 delegates from across the world – provides a significant opportunity to build on UK strengths across low carbon technologies, services and systems such as offshore wind, green finance, electric vehicles and smart systems.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of participating in Phase 4 of the EU's emissions trading system after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government welcomes the formal agreement earlier this year on reform of the EU ETS for the 2021-30 period (‘Phase IV’). It strikes an effective balance between environmental ambition and protecting the competitiveness of industry. These reforms are expected to result in a more meaningful carbon price and stimulate investment in low-carbon technologies and the support of these reforms is without prejudice to any future decision on UK participation, or otherwise, in the EU ETS after we leave the EU.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a UK-wide emissions trading system after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government is considering all factors in relation to the UK’s future participation, or otherwise, in the EU ETS, in consultation with stakeholders.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
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 the report entitled 10 years of the UK Climate Change Act, published by the London School of Economics and Political Science on 30 March, 2018 what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendation in that report to amend the Climate Change Act 2008 to include a statutory response time for carbon plans.
Answered by Claire Perry
There are currently no plans to amend the Climate Change Act to include a statutory response time for the publication of carbon plans.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to align the UK's domestic climate commitments under the Climate Change Act 2008 with the Paris Agreement during the 2017-2019 Parliamentary Session.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Clean Growth Strategy made clear that the Government believes the UK will need to legislate for a net zero emissions target at an appropriate point in the future, to provide legal certainty on where the UK is heading.
We will seek the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) advice on the implications of Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term targets, after the release of the IPCC Special Report later this year.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to submit a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which is separate from the EU's NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as required by the Paris Agreement after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Claire Perry
The UK is firmly committed to the Paris Agreement and to our emissions reduction and climate finance efforts under it. We have demonstrated our commitment domestically – just last week I announced that we would submit our highly praised Clean Growth Strategy as the UK’s long-term strategy to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). I also announced our intention to seek the advice of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes its Special Report on 1.5oC later this year.
The UK is a party to the UNFCCC individually as well as through the EU and we are bound by all the obligations of the Paris Agreement. This includes the requirement to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions. A decision on the nature of a future UK NDC once we have left the EU is one of a number of issues we are currently considering carefully. We are looking forward to constructive discussions with the EU to ensure that we reach the best deal for the British people and for tackling climate change.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether UK products will continue to be subject to EU trademark and design registrations after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
UK businesses will still be able to register an EU Trade Mark or a Community Design when the UK leaves the EU as these rights are available to non-EU businesses seeking protection in the EU.
Regarding the UK coverage of existing EU-level rights, we have made good progress to date on negotiation discussions of separation issues. Many such issues, including IP rights, are dependent on the future discussions. We have been clear that to provide certainty to businesses and citizens we must talk about the future. For our part, we are ready to move these negotiations on. Doing so will allow us to best achieve our joint objectives and move towards a deal that works for both the UK and the EU. We are discussing all options with users of the system to establish the best way forward.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK will participate in the European Unitary Patent and the EU Unified Patent Court after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is an international court. It is not an EU court or an EU institution. However, all participants are currently EU Member States. Whatever the UK's future relationship with the UPC, we will need to negotiate with European partners to reflect the change to the UK's status when we leave the EU.
As the UK's future relationship with both the Unitary and UPC are subject to negotiation, it would not be appropriate to set out a position at this stage. However, the Government's efforts will be focused on securing the best deal possible in negotiations with our European partners.
The UK has one of the best IP regimes in the world, and leaving the EU will not change that: we will continue to deliver quality rights-granting services, lead the world in enforcement and engage in international IP discussions.