Gareth Davies MP: Climate-Related Speeches In Parliament

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Gareth Davies's Speeches In Parliament Related to Climate

We've found 20 Parliamentary debates in which Gareth Davies has spoken about climate-related matters.

Here are the relevant sections of their speeches.

• 17 Oct 2024: International Investment Summit

  14:56

  The most recent official figures show that the UK ranked second only to the United States for greenfield FDI overall, while leading the world in investment into our renewables sector. That is one of the reasons why we have achieved the fastest decarbonisation of any developed country in the world, and we should be proud of that. That is down not just to those who are elected but to officials who work day in, day out to support Governments: those in the Office for Investment, the Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and our many trade commissioners, who help drive our efforts to attract significant pools of investment capital from across the world.

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• 19 Mar 2024: Oral Answers to Questions

  Announcements in each of our last three fiscal events have enhanced our business investment environment for international investors: we have the second highest foreign direct investment stock in the world; we have some of the best universities in the world, which are attracting businesses; we have announced full expensing, which is a £10 billion-a-year tax cut; we have the lowest corporation tax in the G7; and we are reforming our energy grid, bringing investment into our net zero ambitions. We are reforming our systems, reducing our taxes, and encouraging investment.

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• 11 Mar 2024: Budget Resolutions

  21:40

  I would genuinely like to congratulate all Members from across the House on their contributions this evening, but I particularly appreciated the brass-necked wind-up from the official Opposition. Let us never forget that in 2010 Labour left office with fewer people in work, more debt to pay off and a deficit ballooning out of control. Let us contrast that with the UK in 2024, where, despite having to deal with the worst pandemic in 100 years, the worst war in mainland Europe since 1945 and the highest energy spike since the 1970s, this year we will have: inflation back to target; unemployment at record lows; wages rising; taxes on work falling; 4 million more people on a payroll since 2010; 3 million fewer people paying any income tax at all; the fastest decarbonisation in the G7; the highest state pension we have ever seen; and total departmental spending up 7% in cash terms this Parliament. The last thing this country needs now is five years’ hard Labour. For it is the Conservatives who will push people up who want to succeed, not pull them down when they do succeed; who believe in the dignity of work, which best delivers prosperity; and who know that growth cannot and should not solely come from the Floor of this House of Commons, but instead should come from the thermal insulation factory floors of Darlington and the ceramics factory floors of Stoke-on-Trent. The workers and businesses will drive our growth. This is a Budget for them, and I commend it to the House.

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• 4 Mar 2024: Advanced Manufacturing

  This involves a combined industry and Government investment of almost £73 million in projects to accelerate the development of zero-emission vehicle technology in the UK, almost £200 million in projects to develop energy efficient and zero-carbon aircraft technology, and almost £92 million in life science manufacturing projects. The funding awarded is targeted to support the sectors where the UK is or could be world-leading and is designed to unlock investment from the private sector to help grow our economy.

  The GIGA funding will enable the UK to seize growth opportunities through the transition to net zero, building on our world-leading decarbonisation track record. It forms part of the Government’s priority to grow the economy focusing on making the right long-term decisions for a brighter future by creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country.

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• 19 Dec 2023: Fuel Duty: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

  The Government have announced that they will implement a CBAM from January 2027. The UK CBAM will place a carbon price on some of the most emissions-intensive industrial goods imported to the UK and will ensure that the UK’s decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions, rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas. The delivery of a CBAM will be the subject of further consultation in 2024.

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• 18 Dec 2023: UK Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Leakage

  The UK is taking rapid action on industrial decarbonisation to meet net zero. This includes the use of carbon pricing through the UK emissions trading scheme (UK ETS). This action creates risk of carbon leakage as not all jurisdictions are moving at the same pace. Carbon leakage is the movement of production and associated emissions from one country to another due to different levels of decarbonisation effort through carbon pricing and climate regulation. It can undermine efforts to reduce global emissions and curtail private investment in decarbonisation—compromising efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

  The Government therefore consulted on a range of potential domestic carbon leakage mitigation measures. The consultation “Addressing carbon leakage risk to support decarbonisation” ran from 30 March 2023 to 22 June 2023. It covered potential policies including a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), product standards, and other policy measures to help grow the market for low-emission products, as well as emissions reporting that could support the implementation of carbon leakage policy more broadly.

  A CBAM will ensure that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than displacing carbon emissions overseas. It will give UK industry confidence to invest in the knowledge that its decarbonisation efforts will not be undermined.

  The Government will also seek to develop an embodied emissions reporting framework that could serve future carbon leakage and decarbonisation policies.

  The summary of responses and Government response to the consultation are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/addressing-carbon-leakage-risk-to-support-decarbonisation. A copy of the document will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

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• 13 Dec 2023: Finance Bill

  15:47

  The hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) made a comment about the oil and gas sector. Let me be clear: this Government have resolute support for our domestic oil and gas sector, and its 210,000 jobs. She called for a “proper tax” on oil and gas companies, and I can tell her that we already have one of the highest rates of windfall tax in the world. The energy price levy strikes the right balance between providing support for families and businesses through an energy crisis—namely through the energy price guarantee, which effectively paid 50% of people’s energy bills—while also encouraging investment to bolster our energy security. Conservative Members want to see the sector’s profits reinvested to support our domestic economy, our jobs, and our domestic energy security. Investment allowances within the EPL help to do that, and the energy security investment mechanism, which I announced in June, will help to provide banks with certainty in their modelling as they provide financing to the oil and gas sector, and as they are part of the transition to net zero.

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• 23 Nov 2023: Autumn Statement Resolutions

  14:55

  Businesses are vital to our future technology and our future ambitions when it comes to net zero, as was mentioned by the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). The £4.5 billion we are making available to our strategic manufacturing sectors over five years will mean more zero-emission vehicles. It will mean more aerospace and life sciences technologies, and more green energy solutions built right here in this United Kingdom. We are providing £960 million for the green industries growth accelerator, pushing even further on our advantages in offshore wind, nuclear, CCUS and hydrogen. I just say to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown), who is a long-standing campaigner on energy, that we do need a balanced mix in our energy provision, and that is key to our national security as part of our energy security.

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• 20 Nov 2023: Advanced Manufacturing: Funding

  On Friday 17 November, the Government announced £4.5 billion in funding for manufacturing to support private sector investment in eight strategic sectors across the UK. Together with our existing manufacturing support and plans for the net zero transition, the funding will level up communities across the country with higher-paid jobs and improve our energy security.

  The funding will be available for high-quality proposals from 2025 for five years and therefore help unlock private investment by providing longer-term certainty. It is targeted at the UK’s strongest, world-leading sectors, and where the industry is undergoing fundamental changes as the world transitions to net zero.

  Over £2 billion has been earmarked for the automotive industry, supporting the manufacturing and development of zero-emission vehicles, their batteries and supply chain.

  The green industries growth accelerator investment will support the expansion of strong, homegrown, clean energy supply chains across the UK, including: carbon capture, utilisation and storage; electricity networks; hydrogen; nuclear; and offshore wind. This will enable the UK to seize growth opportunities through the transition to net zero, building on our world-leading decarbonisation track record and strong deployment offer.

  The funding forms part of the Prime Minister’s pledge to grow the economy, and his focus on making decisions for the long term. It does not just focus on the most successful sectors today but looks ahead to how we keep pace internationally and build the UK’s expertise for the industries of the future. The funding will also help to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of the global transition to net zero and can seize growth opportunities in the new green economy.

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• 23 Oct 2023: Environmental, Social and Governance Developments

  22:13

  My hon. Friend will be aware of our steadfast commitment, enshrined in law, to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. We already lead the world on tackling climate change: we have decarbonised faster than any other major economy since 1990, reducing our emissions by nearly half while growing our economy by some two thirds. Renewables have gone from less than 7% of our electricity supply in 2010 to 48% in the first quarter of this year, which is fantastic progress. However, as the Prime Minister has said recently, we will not stop there. The Chancellor has set out his view that the UK’s green industries are key to creating growth across this United Kingdom and our whole economy, and the Prime Minister’s announcements have outlined how the Government are working to unblock key barriers to investment and decarbonisation.

  Growing the sustainable finance sector to support the transition to net zero is a major priority for this Government, and in March we published our green finance strategy. The strategy sets out the policies, regulatory changes and frameworks that we will be focusing on and taking forward in the next two to three years, helping businesses to have more certainty. It includes, for example, our commitment to deliver a useful and usable UK green taxonomy—an important evidence-based classification tool that will clearly define what is meant by “green” so that the market knows where to channel investment. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) rightly highlighted, that supply of relevant and reliable information will help guide us all in financing activities that actually support our net zero and environmental objectives, while making clearer where damaging greenwashing is taking place.

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• 5 Sep 2023: Climate Change: Economic Impact

  The Treasury’s 2021 net zero review noted that unmitigated climate change damage has been estimated to be the equivalent of losing between 5% and 20% of global GDP each year. The costs of global inaction significantly outweigh the costs of action, and McKinsey estimates that there is a global market opportunity for British businesses worth £1 trillion.

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  It is important to point out that we are the fastest decarbonising economy in the G7. Since 1990, we have decarbonised by 48% while growing our economy by 65%, but the hon. Lady is right: this will take a balanced approach involving both public spending and private investment, including pension fund investment. The recent pension fund reforms, for example, should unlock some new assets for green infrastructure.

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  The data that I look at shows that last year 40% of our electricity was generated from renewables. That is an amazing achievement, but we are alive and present when it comes to decarbonising our economy. We have great plans and we are building on our great track record. We will continue to do that.

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• 20 Jun 2023: Oral Answers to Questions

  We have a world-leading track record on net zero, but we must balance that correctly with who bears the cost. Critical to the nature of the right hon. Gentleman’s question is mobilising more private capital, and we are making great strides on that front.

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• 12 Jun 2023: Energy Tax

  In the 2022 autumn statement, the Chancellor announced a review into the long-term fiscal regime for North sea oil and gas, to ensure that the regime delivers predictability and certainty, supporting investment, jobs and the country’s energy security. The Government have published terms of reference for this review, setting out its scope and objectives. The review will focus on how the fiscal regime can support the country’s energy security while also realising our net-zero commitments in the medium and long term.

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• 3 May 2023: Funding for Major Infrastructure Projects

  16:12

  The hon. Member for Bath and my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon also made some excellent points on rail electrification. The hon. Lady should be aware of the transport decarbonisation plan, which will deliver a net zero railway by 2050. She referenced some specific statistics, and I will respond with a couple of my own: since 2010, we have electrified 1,224 miles of track, of which 1,000 miles have been installed in the past five years alone—compared, by the way, with just 70 miles electrified in England and Wales between 1997 and 2010. I think we are doing a pretty good job, although there is more to do. I do not think anybody would deny that.

  As my hon. Friend mentioned, we are building on a strong base. The UK is a great centre for private investment. We have a strong system of regulation, a strong legal framework that is replicated all around the world, and a leading financial and services sector that helps to mobilise private capital. He talked about the bond market, and as he knows we are one of the leading issuers of green gilts. We are doing a lot to help mobilise private capital, but critical to our financing will be the mechanisms and institutions that we have available to mobilise private capital. That is why, when I was a Back-Bench MP, I was delighted to join him in the debate on the UK Infrastructure Bank, which will play a massive role in funding the projects that people around the country rely on. It has been set one mission: to partner with the private sector and local government authorities to increase infrastructure investment in pursuit of two objectives. The first is to tackle climate change, and the second is to support regional and local economic growth through connectedness, opportunities for jobs and higher levels of productivity. As it stands, £22 billion of financial capability has been provided to the bank, and we expect it to crowd in private capital investment and support more than £40 billion of infrastructure investment. To date, it has already announced 15 deals worth more than £1.4 billion, covering clean energy, digital infrastructure and green transport. That will be transformational.

  A lot of Members mentioned net zero, which is absolutely critical. What every party has in common is our commitment to the health of the planet. We are world leaders in fighting climate change and galvanising action on the global stage, as we saw at COP26, and we are right to do that at home with our net zero pledge. The UK already has a world-leading track record of delivering decarbonisation. We have reduced emissions faster than any G7 country since 1990. By the way, we have grown our economy by 75% over the same period.

  The Government are committed to a total of £30 billion of domestic infrastructure for the green industrial strategy. Since March 2021, an additional £6 billion for energy efficiency was committed at the autumn statement, and £20 billion for carbon capture, utilisation and storage was announced at the spring Budget. We have in place a clear strategy to deliver on our net zero obligations, deliver energy security and drive economic growth.

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• 9 Mar 2022: Large Solar Farms

  15:15

  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Brendan Clarke-Smith) on calling this debate. For me, the debate is not about whether we need to diversify our energy supplies; of course we do. I want us to reduce our dependence on foreign energy, and to do that, we need renewable infrastructure. For me, it is not about “whether”, but about “how”—how we achieve our energy ambitions in a way that is fair and proportionate and has the support of our constituents, and how we build our renewable energy infrastructure in a way that does not harm the beautiful nature that surrounds us, the farmland that feeds us and the communities that bind us together.

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• 1 Mar 2022: Pensions Guidance and Advice

  10:09

  First, let me say that the power of our pension market is astronomical, tackling the things that we all care about. Whether it is levelling up our communities in Leeds, Hull or Grantham, or building infrastructure, our pension funds have the power and capital to do it. If we want to tackle climate change, unlocking pension assets to invest in renewable energy is vital. We can also do more to help younger people get on the housing ladder. The New Zealand Government introduced KiwiSaver, which allows young people to dip into their pension pot to put down a deposit to buy a first home, and there is more that we can do to unlock pension assets and tackle the things that we all care about.

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• 17 Nov 2020: SMEs and the Net Zero Target

  16:53

  The debate is, of course, about support for SMEs and the net zero targets. I do not think that it is controversial to say that SMEs are both a cause of and a potential solution to climate change. The Federation of Small Businesses has said that about 16% to 18% of emissions are caused by SMEs, but also, given their might, they are a huge potential solution, with a view to our meeting the targets set down in legislation. We should be proud of that. Their role in our communities, as well as the knock-on effect on their customers and people who interact with them, can have a great impact.

  Climate change is a risk and an opportunity for SMEs. As the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Alex Sobel) said, when surveyed SMEs say that they believe climate change is a significant risk, whether to the supply chain or because of extreme weather. However, it is also a huge opportunity for SMEs to show great innovation and to capture the opportunity of a changing climate. We should encourage and embrace that.

  What should we do about the fact that SMEs need to get ready for climate change in order to mitigate the risk and capture the opportunities? How do we fix that financing gap? I have two potential solutions. First, I applaud the work of the British Business Bank. It is a great innovation as a financial institution and it works with 98,000 business in our country. It has £8 billion of financing and it has proved its worth through the coronavirus crisis. I believe that it should have more money.

  The Government have shown, in their latest innovation for meeting our net zero targets, that they are willing to hypothecate the gilt markets with a green gilt. What a good idea that was. We could use the proceeds from that green gilt to help finance the British Business Bank to hypothecate its funding to help SMEs prepare for climate change and our net zero targets, and also to help them innovate and capture the opportunities.

  Secondly and finally, as my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) so eloquently said, we must now look to a British development bank, rolling in the CDC as our international finance arm and rolling in the British Business Bank, to create a huge balance sheet from which we can issue bonds that will target not only regions but SMEs to help them meet the challenges of tomorrow and finance a future that is net zero.

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• 7 Oct 2020: Pension Schemes Bill [Lords]

  14:04

  Finally, let me address clause 124, requiring pension fund managers to include climate change risk. Again, I would expect pension fund managers already to be incorporating climate considerations in their investment process—climate change is clearly a risk for all pension pots. I am disappointed that we have to include it in the Bill, but I welcome it none the less and highlight how it emphasises, once again, this Government’s commitment to green finance.

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• 11 Sep 2020: Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies (Environmentally Sustainable Investment) Bill

  11:21

  I also welcome the spirit of the Bill as it relates to climate change, which is close to my heart and something that the Conservative party takes very seriously. As hon. Members know, we have reduced emissions faster than any other country in the G7; we have announced the £2 billion green homes grant scheme; we were the first major economy to legislate to achieve net zero by 2050; and we have generated more electricity from offshore wind than any other country in the world. I strongly support the green focus of the Bill, and I acknowledge that the hon. Member for Cardiff North had a long career in the service of this cause before her election to the House. We need more people with her expertise in the House.

  As I said, I support the spirit very much of what the hon. Lady is seeking to achieve. However, I do not believe that the Bill is the right tool to help co-operatives, and to help us move them forward and address climate change.

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• 18 May 2020: Oral Answers to Questions

  I thank the Treasury team for their leadership throughout this crisis. As they look at ways to stimulate our economy, will they consider issuing a UK green gilt as a specific way to fund local transport infrastructure and to affirm this Government’s commitment to climate change?

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