Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Andrea Leadsom

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dame Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

3. What steps he has taken to prioritise support for a global green investment bank in COP26 commitments.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

I know that my right hon. Friend shares my view on the importance of unleashing investment for climate. Although a global green investment bank is not on the COP agenda itself, we are working with all levels of the global system—treasuries, regulators, multilateral development banks, central banks and markets—to mobilise private and public capital.

[Dame Andrea Leadsom]

I congratulate my right hon. Friends on the Front Bench on the net zero strategy that the Government published yesterday. Unlike Opposition Members, I see that a net zero strategy backed by business is the way to go. Taxpayers are not going to pay the full cost, and it is down to us all to be committed to that. Does my right hon. Friend agree that because the UK has such strengths in our financial services sector, we can, by promoting greater investment in renewable technologies around the world, promote not just decarbonisation but better jobs and economic growth for all our citizens and those in the developing world?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Wind and solar power are now cheaper than coal and gas across the majority of the world, and continuing to invest in those unabated fossil fuels is likely to create a risk of stranded assets. The opportunities for business investment into green technologies have never been better, with green, high-quality jobs across not only the UK, but all countries, as they also invest in their green technologies and those revolutions that drive the opportunity to boost global GDP by up to 2.4%.