Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Net zero policy tracker: March 2023 update by Green Alliance, published on 17 March; and in particular, what assessment they have made of the finding that only 28 per cent of emissions reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050 are covered by confirmed policies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Net Zero Growth Plan sets out the package that will meet carbon budgets. The Government has met every Carbon Budget to date and through the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan has set out quantified proposals and policies to exceed Carbon Budgets 4 and 5 and 97% of Carbon Budget 6.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Net zero policy tracker: March 2023 update, published by Green Alliance on 17 March; and in particular, the finding that only 28 per cent of emissions reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050 are covered by confirmed policies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Net Zero Growth Plan sets out the package that will meet carbon budgets. The Government has met every Carbon Budget to date and through the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan has set out quantified proposals and policies to exceed Carbon Budgets 4 and 5 and 97% of Carbon Budget 6.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of Elfbar UK regarding the disposal of its products after use.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency has the responsibility for compliance monitoring registered producers under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations and for investigating and enforcing against producers that do not register.
There have been no direct discussions between Defra and Elfbar but the Environment Agency has been informed that Green Fun Alliance Ltd import Elfbar products. Green Fun Alliance are registered as a producer under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January to Question 126656 on Parks, for what reason the Park Action Group has not met since 2019; when it is scheduled to meet; and if he will publish the membership of the Group.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
As per my answer of 26 January 2023, the Government recognises that parks and green spaces are vital to communities and the people they serve, which is why the £9 million Levelling Up Parks Fund (LUPF) announced in August 2021 as part of the Levelling Up agenda will help to increase accessibility to quality green space across the UK, and level up areas which are most deprived of green space and provide communities with a place to come together.
The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders.
The membership of the Park Action Group were: Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for Education (DfE), Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Home Office (HO), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE), Fields in Trust, Local Government Association (LGA), Parks Alliance, Natural England, National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces (NFPGS), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Groundwork, National Trust, Keep Britain Tidy, National Association of Local Councils (NALC), Parks Practitioner, Public Health England and Sport England.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he expects the UK to meet its Global Ocean Alliance 30by30 target to protect England's seas by 2030.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Since 2019, the UK has been leading the Global Ocean Alliance of countries championing ambitious ocean action under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including the target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 which was agreed at the CBD COP15 in Montreal, December 2022.
The 30by30 target is a global target. Nearly 8.3% of the global ocean is now protected. Achieving a global 30by30 target will require an international effort, from all countries and sectors. The UK is leading the way. We have established a comprehensive network of 374 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covering 40% of English waters, and we are now focusing on making sure they are properly protected.
The Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). We consulted on our approach to 30by30 in the Nature Recovery Green Paper, which closed in May 2022. We are now in the process of analysing responses and will publish a Government response on conclusion of this exercise.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the number of green jobs in Washington and Sunderland West constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department is working with the Deparment for Education and local partners to ensure green skills are considered through Local Skills Improvement Plans, which will set out the key skills needs and the priority changes required to provision in an area. The North East Automotive Alliance has been designated to work with a range of employers to lead the Local Skills Improvement Plan for the area which includes Washington and Sunderland West. The Secretary of State for Education may only approve a Plan if satisfied that there has been consideration of the skills related to net zero targets, climate change adaptation, and other environmental goals.
Latest official statistics show there are already around 430,000 jobs in low carbon businesses and their supply chains across the country, and the Government is working with the Green Jobs Delivery Group to explore how central government, local government and businesses can further support local areas to deliver a successful net zero labour market transition.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question
To ask the President of COP26, what recent assessment he has made of the potential role of private finance in delivering COP26 objectives.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Action from private finance will be vital in helping to deliver many of the commitments made by countries and companies at COP26.
For example, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, representing over 130 trillion dollars, will have a key role to play in mobilising capital to support green projects in emerging economies.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the members of the Clean Maritime Council were as at 23 June 2022.
Answered by Robert Courts
As at 23 June 2022, the member organisations of the Clean Maritime Council were: British Ports Association; Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Affairs; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Transport; ENGIE; Environmental Defence Fund; ING Bank; Innovate UK; Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology; Lloyd’s Register; Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Maritime Enterprise Working Group; Maritime London; Maritime UK; Offshore Renewable Catapult; Red Funnel; Smart Green Shipping Alliance; Strathclyde University; UK Chamber of Shipping; UK Major Ports Group, UN Climate Change Champion; University College London; Wightlink and Workboat Association.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question
To ask the President of COP26, what progress he has made since the COP26 conference on ending the use of coal.
Answered by Lord Sharma
At COP26, all parties agreed to phase down the use of coal for the first time ever. The Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement gained over 70 signatures from countries, subnationals, and organisations, and the Powering Past Coal Alliance grew to 165 members.
In 2022, the UK COP Presidency remains fully committed to consigning coal power to history. The Energy Transition Council will run until at least 2025, and is ensuring that countries can access investment in clean power that is more attractive than new coal plants. We are working with international partners to secure more signatories to the UN No New Coal Power Compact and the Powering Past Coal Alliance. The UK will also support the implementation of ambitious announcements made at COP26, including the South Africa Just Energy Transition Partnership, the Green Grids Initiative, and the Just Transition Declaration. We must accelerate action to cut the global new coal plant pipeline, and to retire existing coal generation capacity.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Green Alliance Closing the UK's green skills gap, published on 11 January; and what plans they have to develop a national framework for green jobs which (1) is regularly updated, and (2) outlines the skills required for the transition.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
We welcome the Green Alliance’s report on closing the UK’s skills gap. The government is committed to supporting green skills across the country and a number of measures are in place to ensure we are supporting the labour market transition to net zero.
At the recent Spending Review, we set out investment of £3.8 billion in further education and skills over the course of the parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity and supports levelling up. This includes funding for programmes to support green skills crucial to the net zero transition.
In November 2020, we launched the Green Jobs Taskforce, working in partnership with business, local areas, skills providers, and unions, to ensure we have the skilled workforce to deliver net zero and our Ten Point Plan. Following that, and building on the Skills for Jobs White Paper, the Net Zero Strategy was published in October 2021 and set out how the government’s skills reforms will support teachers understanding of sustainability, strengthen links between employers and providers, support workers in high carbon sectors with the transition, and help to build a pipeline of future talent.
Through the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are supporting workers to gain the skills they need to transition to the green economy, including through targeted support for retraining. As part of this and through the National Skills Fund investment, we are delivering Skills Bootcamps, which are short, flexible courses covering digital, technical and green skills. Green Skills Bootcamps are available in areas such as housing retrofit, solar, nuclear energy and vehicle electrification.
The Free Courses for Jobs offer has, since April 2021, been supporting adults who do not have a qualification at Level 3 or higher to access over 400 Level 3 courses for free. The offer currently includes qualifications linked to green sectors such as Agriculture, Building and Construction, Engineering, Environmental Conservation, Horticulture and Forestry and Science. This offer replaces loan funding with grant funding for any adult over the age of 23 looking to achieve their first level 3 qualification. In addition, we have recently announced that, from April this year, any adult in England who is earning under the National Living Wage annually (£18,525) or unemployed will also be able to access these qualifications for free, regardless of their prior qualification level.
At post-16 level, we will continue to build on our apprenticeship reforms, to align the majority of post-16 technical education and training with employer-led standards by 2030. A strengthened system of employer-led standards, underpinning apprenticeships, T Levels and new higher technical qualifications will ensure employers, including in low carbon sectors, have a central role in designing and developing qualifications and training.
We are also introducing Local Skills Improvement Plans, which will be developed by employer representative bodies working closely with employers, post-16 education and training providers and key local stakeholders. These Plans will articulate unmet and future skills needs and key changes needed to ensure technical skills provision is responsive to local labour market skills needs. Through the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, we are legislating to put the employer leadership of these plans on a statutory footing and ensure they consider skills needed to help deliver on our net zero target, adaptation to climate change, and other environmental goals.
Going forward, a new Green Jobs Delivery Group will be the central forum through which government, industry and other key stakeholders work together to ensure that the UK has the workforce needed to deliver a green industrial revolution.
The Group will include ministerial representation from the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Education, the Department for Work and Pensions, and other departments as required. It will also importantly be co-chaired by an industry representative to ensure an inclusive view of the action on green jobs needed for net zero and wider environmental goals.
The Group will be active for the duration of this parliament and will aim to drive forward industry and government action across a range of topics, which might include: ensuring we have the skilled workforce to deliver net zero and wider environmental goals in line with the UK’s levelling up agenda; ensuring workers and communities in high carbon sectors are supported with the transition in the wider context of the UK’s levelling up agenda; better understanding and addressing barriers to recruitment, retention and progression in green jobs (including quality of work, pay, conditions, image, etc); ensuring green jobs are open to all; building on the work of the Green Jobs Taskforce to develop a clearer understanding of the green economy and how to define and measure it.
Taken together, and alongside the wider suite of reforms to the skills system being implemented by government in partnership with industry, these measures will help to ensure more people can get the skills they need to enter and progress within green jobs.