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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the environmental consequences of that Government establishing coal-fired power stations throughout the world.

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently met his Chinese Counterpart at the UK-China Energy Dialogue in December 2017, where they discussed a wide range of issues around transitioning to a low carbon economy, including China’s efforts to reduce the amount of coal in its energy mix. Last year the UK and Canada established the Powering Past Coal Alliance - which now counts over 70 members - to encourage countries, businesses and other organisations around the world to advance the transition from unabated coal power generation.