Thank you for contacting me about climate change.
I share your concern about the consequences that will result if there is not global action to tackle carbon emissions.
The landmark Paris Agreement of 2015 aims to halt global warming at well below 2°C, while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. I am pleased that, at the G7 in June and under the UK's Presidency, world leaders committed to achieve net zero by no later than 2050, and halve their collective emissions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, which will limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C.
I strongly believe that to meet the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, the world must collectively and rapidly reduce global emissions to net zero over the next 30 years. This will ensure we are less exposed to flood and heat risks and in a position to preserve our natural world which is threatened by the global disruption of climate change. While this will take time to achieve, it is vital that work is already underway.
Therefore, I welcome the publication of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. The plan will mobilise £12 billion of Government investment to create and support up to 250,000 green jobs. It includes investment in carbon capture technology, hydrogen and a commitment to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, 10 years earlier than planned. In addition, the Energy White Paper reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to renewable energy and achieving net zero across our economy.
This comes at the same time as the Prime Minister announced the UK’s ambitious new target of achieving at least a 68 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, compared to 1990 levels. I am delighted that the Prime Minister has gone even further, and set the world's most ambitious climate target into law to reduce emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, also compared to 1990 levels. This is consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature goal to limit global warming and also will take the UK more than three-quarters of the way to reaching net zero by 2050.
Ultimately, I am pleased that the UK Government is taking decisive action to tackle climate change and, ahead of COP26 being hosted in Glasgow in November 2021, the UK will continue to call for further global efforts.