Asked by: Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which countries have contributed to the $12 billion donor fund announced at COP26 to halt and reverse forest loss and protect land rights; and how much each of those donors has committed.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Over a five-year period between 2021-2025, the $12billion Global Forest Finance Pledge will support forest-related climate action in countries eligible for Official Development Assistance.
The pledge has been supported by 12 public donors: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, the UK, the USA, and the European Commission on behalf of the European Union.
The UK has confirmed to provide at least £1.5 billion to the pledge.
Further details of what the pledge will deliver on can be found at:
https://ukcop26.org/the-global-forest-finance-pledge/
Asked by: Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)
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 potential contribution of domestic tidal lagoon power to reaching the target of net zero by 2050.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government has been clear that tidal range technologies such as tidal lagoons and barrages may have a role to play in the UK’s long term energy mix but only if they can deliver value for money in the context of other renewable technologies.
Asked by: Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has made to Cabinet colleagues on the interests of British farming in relation to the Government's (a) forthcoming heat policy roadmap and (b) plans to renew the Renewable Heat Incentive.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department engages regularly with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at both ministerial and official level, on the interests of British Farming on a range of issues. This includes the biogas and biomethane technologies included under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
The RHI has funding confirmed for new deployment of renewable heat technologies until 31 March 2021. The Budget on 11 March confirmed a new allocation of flexible tariff guarantees on the non-domestic RHI and announced a new support scheme for biomethane production to increase the proportion of green gas in the grid, funded by a Green Gas Levy.
We are planning to publish a Heat and Building Strategy later this year, which will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings and an ambitious programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions to set us on a path to Net Zero by 2050. We are currently developing policies to deliver low carbon heating in the 2020s and meet our climate targets which we will consult on with a wider range of stakeholders including British Farmers.
Asked by: Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps he is taking to tackle rising energy prices.
Answered by Claire Perry
We are bringing forward the Price Cap Bill, an intelligent intervention to protect consumers.
Ofgem is already capping tariffs for 1 million households this year, and consulting on protection for another 2 million next winter. This is in addition to the 4 million households protected under the pre-pay cap.
That is not all, smart meter rollout, focusing of ECO money on fuel poor households and working with Citizens Advice and the Energy Saving Trust to get people switched to better deals.
All this will help keep bills down for households.
Asked by: Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Renewable Heat Incentive on the UK's decarbonisation targets.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Using less fossil fuel and more renewables to heat our homes and businesses is vital to decarbonising the UK economy. The continued Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) funding (rising to £1.15bn in 2020/21) means that renewable heat will continue to play its part in meeting our binding domestic and international targets on carbon and renewables.
We intend to reform the RHI to improve value for money and reduce costs; improve cost control and budget management; and explore the best way to support less able to pay households and owners of large plants. We plan to consult on the changes shortly; this consultation will provide estimates of the reformed RHI’s contribution towards our carbon targets.
Asked by: Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent progress she has made on the implementation of a revised Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reform of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme will take place in two stages. I intend that the first stage of reform will take effect from Spring 2016. We will be consulting on our proposals for the second stage of reform shortly.