Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps his Department is taking to support the decarbonisation of the maritime industry in Wales.
Answered by Lord Hart of Tenby
The UK Government is working with the maritime sector to support decarbonisation at both international and domestic level.
Internationally, the UK has been playing a significant role at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the development of short-and medium-term measures alongside other high ambition states and the maritime sector. This work is intended to address emissions and begin decarbonising the sector. The UK is also active in work at IMO on energy efficiency for new ships, and in the development of long-term measures to address emissions.
Domestically, the UK Government has published research exploring the opportunities and challenges arising from decarbonisation, to provide the sector with greater clarity on what is required to achieve decarbonisation. In support of this the Department for Transport has provided £1.5m of grants through Maritime Research and Innovation UK. This grant aims to support clean maritime innovation in the UK with over £240,000 awarded to a Welsh consortium looking into sustainable aquaculture and marine opportunities.
Officials from my department regularly engage with officials in the Department for Transport and the Welsh Government on how we can work together to support the decarbonisation of all sectors in Wales, including the maritime sector.