Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the National Infrastructure Commission's report entitled The Second National Infrastructure Assessment, published on 1 October 2023, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendation to provide subsidies to help property owners connect to a heat network.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK Government is investing over half a billion pounds in funds and programmes to develop new heat networks and improve existing ones. The Green Heat Network Fund is the primary funding mechanism to develop new and existing low carbon heat networks across England. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme can also fund connections to heat networks. With the introduction of heat network zoning, we will assess how the Green Heat Network Fund should evolve in the future. The recommendations of the National Infrastructure Commission will be taken into account in this exercise.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the number of individual houses that could be connected to heat networks.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government’s analysis shows that heat networks could provide about 20% of total heat by 2050 up from the 3% currently. They will provide a greater proportion in the urban areas that will be covered by the heat network zoning legislation in England which will designate areas where heat networks are expected to provide the lowest cost, low carbon heating.
As part of Heat Network Zoning the Government will provide local communities with the tools to accelerate the development of heat networks and ensure that more homes and businesses can have access to greener, cheaper heat. This will include tools that will enable them to identify the number of buildings that are likely to be connected to district heating in these zones.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 69 of her Department's Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, published on 30 March 2023, what steps she is taking to deliver carbon savings associated with Industrial Resource Efficiency for (a) carbon budget 4, (b) carbon budget 5 and (c) carbon budget 6.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Government is committed to delivering carbon savings through increased resource efficiency in industry, in line with the 2023 Carbon Budget Delivery Plan. Through UKRI, the Government has provided innovation support, including £30m for the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research programme and £66m for the Transforming Foundation Industries programme.
DESNZ has undertaken extensive research to support evidence-based resource efficiency policies. The first reports were published in November 2023. This will complement policies aimed at encouraging consumers to make green choices, such as eco-labelling and product standards. We are also processing the results of a call for evidence on scope 3 emissions reporting.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the commitment to match or exceed EU Ecodesign standards in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publication entitled Our waste, our resources: a strategy for England, published on 18 December 2018, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1670.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Regulation 2023/1670 applies Ecodesign requirement to smartphones and tablets. These are not priority products under the Framework but the Government is currently considering the implications of the EU’s Ecodesign programme and what the UK’s approach should be across a wide range of products.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK meets its commitments under the Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative's Green Public Procurement Pledge.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government committed to the Green Public Procurement pledge in its announcement at COP28 last year. As part of the pledge communiqué, the Government listed the actions it is taking to meet commitments under the pledge. The Government will provide the first annual update on the pledge later this year, which will include information on progress to date.
The pledge communiqué is available here: https://www.cleanenergyministerial.org/content/uploads/2023/12/iddi-gpp-pledge-announcement_5-december-2023.pdf
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to include the the impact of (a) seagrass meadows, (b) salt marshes and (c) other blue carbon habitats in the greenhouse gas inventory.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The estimation of the impact of anthropogenic activities on seagrass meadows, salt marshes and other blue carbon habitats along the shores of the UK is currently precluded by widespread gaps in the data required to generate emission estimates in line with current guidelines.
We are working with the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership (UKBCEP) to resolve this. As a first step, a roadmap to inclusion of saltmarsh has been created and the UKBCEP are working to collect the necessary data.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has received representations from local government bodies on the potential impact of the decision not to join Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action on the Government’s efforts to work with sub-national bodies in countries that have joined that coalition.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is already undertaking a significant amount of work at the subnational level to deliver net zero, as outlined in the Net Zero Strategy and Net Zero Growth Plan. Therefore, the Government does not see a need to sign up to the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action at this time.
We engage regularly with local government through the Local Net Zero Forum. To date, the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action has not been raised as part of these discussions.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 12045 on Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of joining the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action on the delivery of net zero at the subnational level.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is already undertaking a significant amount of work at the subnational level to deliver net zero, as outlined in the Net Zero Strategy and Net Zero Growth Plan. Therefore, the Government does not see a need to sign up to the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action at this time.
We engage regularly with local government through the Local Net Zero Forum. To date, the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action has not been raised as part of these discussions.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the policy paper entitled Net Zero business sector roadmap guidelines, published on 14 August 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Net Zero Council is a partnership between government, business and finance created to support net zero delivery and capture the benefits of this transition.
The guidelines published last year provide a robust, credible and consistent set of criteria for business sector roadmaps. They were developed by the Council to help businesses create tailored action plans to reduce emissions across their sectors.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of signing up to the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government already undertakes a significant amount of work at the subnational level to deliver net zero, as outlined in the Net Zero Strategy and Net Zero Growth Plan. The recently announced Local Net Zero Accelerator programme will support local government to attract private sector investment for green growth and will pilot new approaches in three Combined Authorities. The Government has therefore decided not to join the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action at the current time.