Carbon Emissions

(asked on 18th November 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to allocate funding to the development of future employment roles for workers in the (a) oil and gas and (b) other sectors to ensure that the economy is prepared for the transition towards net zero emissions.


Answered by
Kwasi Kwarteng Portrait
Kwasi Kwarteng
This question was answered on 27th November 2020

The oil and gas sector, and particularly its supply chain, has a key role to play as we move to a net zero economy and we have committed to supporting this energy transition with a transformational North Sea Transition Deal. The focus of this deal will be on ensuring the sector can support the energy transition and anchoring the supply chain across the UK. Key features include a focus on new low carbon technologies, emissions reduction, skills supporting high-quality jobs, and innovation that will decarbonise our economy.

Our Ten Point Plan is our blueprint for a green industrial revolution. It combines ambitious policies with significant new public investment to deliver a vision for the UK that is greener, more prosperous and at the forefront of industries for the future. Spanning clean energy, buildings, transport, nature and innovative technologies, the Plan will mobilise £12 billion of Government investment and will support up to 250,000 green jobs.

This included the announcement to make the UK the world leader in clean wind energy, creating jobs, slashing carbon emissions and boosting exports. This includes £160 million that will be made available to upgrade ports and manufacturing infrastructure across communities in the UK. This new investment will see around 2,000 construction jobs created and these new plans will enable the sector to support up to 60,000 jobs directly and indirectly by 2030 in ports, factories and the supply chains, manufacturing the next-generation of offshore wind turbines and delivering clean energy to the UK.

The Green Jobs Taskforce, which I and the Skills Minister, my hon Friend the Member for Chichester (Gillian Keegan) will chair, forms part of the Government’s ambitious plan to build back greener and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Its aim will be to focus on the immediate and longer-term challenges of delivering skilled workers for the UK’s transition to net zero including supporting workers in high carbon transitioning sectors, like oil and gas, to retrain in new green technologies. This will also be a key aim for the upcoming North Sea Transition Deal.

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