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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of EU carbon reduction policies on the sustainability of UK manufacturing industries.

The UK’s overall approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is set out in the 2008 Climate Change Act, which requires the UK to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. This is consistent with wider EU carbon reduction objectives.

The UK currently has a range of policies to ensure we meet our targets while maximising economic benefits to the UK, set out in the Clean Growth Strategy.

The Government is taking action to help manufacturing industries to decarbonise while maintaining competitiveness as part of our Industrial Strategy. This includes long-term decarbonisation plans for key sectors, and early work on sector deals in the manufacturing sector.