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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the net zero strategy will be published; and whether it will include the emissions reductions required to meet the UK’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution of reducing emissions by 68 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

The Government will publish a comprehensive Net Zero Strategy this year, ahead of COP26. The strategy will set out our vision for transitioning to a net zero economy so we can make the most of new growth and employment opportunities across the UK.

We have a robust legislative framework in place to ensure that the government is meeting its climate targets. The Climate Change Act 2008 introduced our innovative framework of carbon budgets to ensure continued progress towards our climate targets. The carbon budgets currently set in legislation cover the period between 2008 to 2032 and are among the most stringent in the world, requiring the equivalent of a 57% cut in emissions by 2030 from a 1990 baseline. We will set the sixth carbon budget this year and will set out our plans on continuing to meet our climate targets.

Through my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan and our Energy White Paper, we have set out concrete steps we will take to build back greener from the pandemic and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Over the coming months, in addition to the Net Zero Strategy, we will bring forward further bold proposals to cut emissions and create new jobs and industries across the whole country.