Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of whether the updated Energy Charter Treaty, as agreed by the Energy Charter Conference on 24 June, is compatible with international climate goals; what steps he is taking to encourage other states to sign up to the fossil fuel carve out agreed by the EU and UK when the new treaty is signed in November; and if he will take steps to further amend the timeline for the fossil fuel carve out in order to speed up the withdrawal of (a) protection for all new fossil-fuel investments and (b) all existing fossil fuel investments.
Answered by Greg Hands
The modernised Treaty recognises the urgent need to address climate change and align with the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement. It also removes the Treaty’s protection for new fossil fuel investments in the UK. The Government welcomes the flexible approach in the modernised Treaty, which allows individual Parties to phase out investment protections for fossil fuels in their own territories in line with respective decarbonisation plans. The Government does not plan to seek to amend the timeline for the fossil fuel carve out, which aligns with the UK’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the Energy Charter Treaty’s compatibility with international climate goals.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Energy Charter Treaty already calls on Contracting Parties to minimise the environmental impacts of energy operations.
Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty are negotiating the modernisation of the Treaty to ensure it is aligned with common climate objectives. The Government supports the process to modernise the Treaty in a way that advances the global energy transition, including the right for Member States to regulate in order to reach emissions reduction targets and ensure a stronger focus on climate security.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the impact on (a) electronic waste by 2050 and (b) consumer costs of standardising phone charging cables to USB-C type.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is aware of the EU’s proposal for a single charging solution for certain electronic devices. While there are no current plans to introduce similar requirements in domestic law, we will monitor developments in this area.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a failure-to-prevent legal mechanism to help prevent corporate (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental damage; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK has a strong record on human rights and environmental awareness and protection, much of which results from our framework of legislation. The UK already requires companies to undertake due diligence on sustainability matters under existing legislation on corporate transparency. UK listed companies are required to report on relevant environmental, social and governance aspects in their annual reports. Large businesses are also required to publish supply chain transparency statements on steps they have taken to ensure that no modern slavery or human trafficking is taking place in their business or through their supply chains. Both reporting requirements compel disclosure of a company’s due diligence arrangements where these are in place.
In certain circumstances, companies can already be held liable for breaches of duties of care to others where harm is suffered as a foreseeable consequence of the breach.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment has he made of the adequacy of financial support available to people facing increased costs of heating oil.
Answered by Greg Hands
The supply of heating oil is subject to UK competition law and consumer protection through a regulatory scheme under the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). If residents are off the gas grid, but on a default tariff for their electricity supply, they will still be protected by the Energy Price Cap which continues to protect 15 million households.
In the longer term, improving the energy efficiency of our homes and buildings is vital to keeping household energy costs down and reducing carbon emissions, which is why the Government is driving £6 billion into making homes more energy efficient over the next ten years.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many place names in the Ordnance Survey's National Geographic Database have been changed from Welsh into English in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Scully
Ordnance Survey does not record the language of the names in the National Geographic Database; instead, it uses the ‘accepted’ name in the database, provided by the authoritative body responsible for the place, often the Local Authority. Should information about a place name change from English to Welsh or Welsh to English be received from an authoritative body such as a Local Authority, then that ‘accepted’ name change will be updated automatically in the National Geographic Database.