Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the International Energy Agency’s report entitled Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, published in May 2021, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle the (a) social and (b) economic effects on people and communities of achieving the UK’s climate change targets.

People from all over the UK are already doing their bit on climate change, and, with the Together for our Planet campaign, we aim to celebrate this and inspire even more of our fellow citizens to join them. The Government is already supporting people to adapt to new lower carbon technologies with initiatives such as Go Ultra Low and the Simple Energy Advice service.

On economic effects, we are determined to seize the once-in-a-generation economic opportunities of the net zero transition by creating new business opportunities and supporting up to 2 million green jobs by 2030 across all regions of the UK. HM Treasury will publish in full its Net Zero Review this Spring, and has already published an interim report. The review will set out how the transition to a net zero economy will be funded, and where the costs will fall.

In order to ensure we have the skilled workforce to deliver net zero, we have launched the Green Jobs Taskforce, working in partnership with business, skills providers and unions, to help us develop plans for new long-term good quality, green jobs by 2030. The Government will make sure that our growing green economy is inclusive, benefitting people across the UK, supporting workers as industries transform and ensuring costs as well as the benefits are shared fairly, protecting consumers, workers and businesses.