PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Carbon Emissions (18 June 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government will be taking in the (a) short, (b) medium and (c) long-term to achieve the G7's goal of decarbonising the global economy by the end of this century.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing our world. It is not just a threat to the environment. It is also a threat to national and global security, poverty eradication and economic prosperity.

In their June statement G7 Leaders recognised that the science is clear, that we need to hold the increase in average global temperature to below 2 degrees C, and that the world therefore needs deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions, to transform energy sectors and to advance decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of this century.

The UK is doing its part. We were the first country to put in place a legally binding long-term target, and we have established five year carbon budgets for reducing emissions into the late 2020s. We met our first carbon budget last year, and according to our latest projections we are on track to meet the next two carbon budgets.

All others also need to do their fair share too, which is why UK is working to influence other countries to take action, to secure a new global in Paris and by providing assistance to those developing countries who need it to reduce their emissions, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.

Answered by:
Andrea Leadsom (Conservative)
23 June 2015