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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the (a) supporting data and (b) costs for each of the decarbonising policies being proposed by the Government to achieve net zero by 2050; and what estimate he has made of the cost of achieving net zero by 2050.

There is inherent uncertainty in any cost estimate for the thirty-year transition to net zero, but it is clear the cost of inaction is much higher than the cost of action on climate change. The Stern Review estimated the impacts of unmitigated climate change at equivalent to 5-20% of global GDP.

Ahead of COP26, the Government has committed to publish a Net Zero Strategy, setting out the Government’s vision for the transition to a net zero economy and outlining our path to meet the UK’s emissions targets. HM Treasury are also conducting a review on the costs of reaching net zero, to inform the Government’s approach to achieving a transition in a way that works for households, businesses and public finances, and maximises growth opportunities.