Kerry McCarthy MP: Climate Timeline

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Kerry McCarthy's Climate-related Tweets, Speeches & Votes

We've found the following climate-related tweets, speeches & votes by Kerry McCarthy in the last 90 days

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• 17 Nov 2024: Tweet

  Civil society voices play an important role in our fight to tackle the climate crisis @COP29_AZ. Thank you to @CAN_UK_ members for the productive discussion - @CAFOD, @wwf_uk, @christian_aid, @Natures_Voice, @oxfamgb, @savechildrenuk, @GreenpeaceUK & @Global_Witness https://x.com/KerryMP/status/1858059674215428567/photo/1 [Source]

• 14 Nov 2024: Tweet

  A privilege to be at my first COP29 as the UK’s Climate Minister. Action is now more important than ever. Recent and tragic events in Spain have shown again that nothing is more central to the UK’s national interest than delivering global progress on tackling climate change. https://x.com/KerryMP/status/1856992112216096915/photo/1 [Source]

• 13 Nov 2024: Tweet

  Nature protection and tackling the climate crisis must be part of the same conversation ???? Protecting our natural resources will help us in our mission to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Learn more from my visit to @kewgardens where I met @KewScience experts. https://x.com/KerryMP/status/1856631608352059887/video/1 [Source]

• 12 Nov 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  I think the shadow Secretary of State needs to seek a debate if she wants to elaborate on these issues. Having attended COP last year as part of a cross-party delegation, I found it incredibly depressing to see the way the UK was received. It is really important that we are stepping up and showing global ambition. Reaching net zero in this country and getting to clean power by 2030 is a massive opportunity, not a cost.

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

  We hope that, at COP29 in the coming weeks, we can settle on a figure for a new ambitious goal, which will not just bring in finance from donor countries, but mobilise private sector finance. We will use all the mechanisms we can to ensure that we get money to developing countries as quickly as possible. As my hon. Friend said, it is more urgent than ever to act.

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 12 Nov 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Today, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (Ed Miliband), is already at COP29 in Baku, where he will be leading climate negotiations. He sends his apologies. The Prime Minister is also at COP29 and will be speaking at the global leaders summit, announcing our ambitious 1.5°C-aligned nationally determined contribution and showing that the UK is truly back on the international stage. A written statement will also be made later today.

  Full debate: Climate Change: International Leadership

  On the question of looking at our policies across the piece, that is very much my job. We will be responding soon to the Committee on Climate Change’s report, which the hon. Lady will know was quite critical of the previous Government’s action. We will be setting out our plan to implement the NDC and looking at the next carbon budget. All those things require effort share across Departments to ensure we actually meet them. It is about not just setting ambitious targets, but making sure that, unlike the previous Government, we have a strategy to get us there.

  Full debate: Climate Change: International Leadership

  I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I know he was at Cali. There was some progress on such issues as digital sequence information, but more needs to be done. We are very seized of the need to join up action on the nature and climate crisis. When I head out to COP29 tomorrow, Members will hopefully hear more from us on our efforts to protect forests and on the support we are giving to countries at risk of deforestation. We are also looking at nature-based solutions to climate change. The nature Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry East (Mary Creagh)—will be out there as well, and we will have more to say, but I entirely agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins) that we cannot deal with one crisis in isolation from the other.

  Full debate: Climate Change: International Leadership

  The energy Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks)—is very much involved with that issue. We have also set up the energy superpower mission board, headed by Chris Stark. I had a conversation with him yesterday about what we can do to ensure grid capacity and grid connections in the right places. If the hon. Lady has a specific issue to raise and would like to write to me, I will make sure it is passed on to him.

  Full debate: Climate Change: International Leadership

• 12 Nov 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  We agree that fusion could be a globally transformative green energy solution. The UK Government’s fusion programme continues to lead the world in the development of fusion energy, and our ambition is to continue to do so.

  Full debate: Fusion Power Plants

• 22 Oct 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  My hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth will be aware that one of the Prime Minister’s five missions for national renewal is making Britain a clean energy superpower, including delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero. As has been mentioned, we have wasted no time in getting started. Within our first 100 days in government, we lifted the onshore wind ban in England, consented to more nationally significant solar projects than had been consented to in the past 14 years, and delivered the most successful renewables auction in British history. Now we are busy setting up Great British Energy, which will drive clean energy deployment, creating jobs, boosting energy independence and ensuring that UK taxpayers, bill payers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy. As we heard, Cornwall has a vital role to play in that clean energy mission, and indeed our mission to secure economic growth.

  As I said, unlocking Cornwall’s potential is slightly different from going into other areas. That is absolutely key. Planning was mentioned; we must undo some of the blockages in the planning system. In relation to the grid, I very much remember, from when I visited, the knock-on impact of the fact that the transmission line goes only as far as Indian Queens. Until we create the grid infrastructure to cover the right areas and provide sufficient capacity, we cannot deliver on Cornwall’s potential. I think that one of the things holding the Eden Project back with its geothermal work was that it could not get that broader grid connection. The former chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, Chris Stark, has been put in charge of the mission board, and one of his key tasks is to bring in a more strategic approach to grid planning, speed it up and stop those blockages that mean that projects just do not get off the ground because they are stuck in that system.

  Looking at Cornwall, we have mentioned floating offshore wind, onshore wind, geothermal, tidal, solar, lithium, tin and manganese. Can the Minister name anywhere else in the UK where there is such a distillation of critical minerals and renewable energy opportunities? I am very excited by what she said about the cluster concept. Would not Cornwall be an ideal place to be an official cluster for renewables and critical minerals?

  Full debate: Renewable Energy: Cornwall

• 21 Oct 2024: Tweet

  @CBItweets @ClimateCLG @fsb_policy @BroadwayInit @AldersgateGrp @COP29_AZ We must galvanise international action to protect people who are on the front line of the climate crisis. With < month to @COP29_AZ, great to have conversations about how we can work to achieve this with @CAN_UK_ , @e3g, @wwf_uk @GreenAllianceUK @Natures_Voice and more. 3/3 https://x.com/KerryMP/status/1848404314202558732/photo/1 [Source]

• 21 Oct 2024: Tweet

  British businesses are leading the way on net zero. I met with @CBItweets @ClimateCLG @fsb_policy @BroadwayInit @AldersgateGrp and others to discuss how we can work together to ensure a successful @cop29_AZ, so UK businesses can support and benefit from green growth. 2/3 https://x.com/KerryMP/status/1848376210847400286/photo/1 [Source]

• 21 Oct 2024: Tweet

  As part of pre-COP29 engagement, as well as discussions with parliamentarians I’ve been meeting with businesses and NGOs, with other roundtables, including with young climate activists, to follow. 1/3 https://twitter.com/kerrymp/status/1846525459346915785 [Source]

• 16 Oct 2024: Tweet

  Good to join @ClimateAPPG yesterday and see the interest from MPs ahead of next month’s COP29. Was able to update them on my recent participation in the pre-COP sessions and the UK’s commitment to domestic and global leadership. https://twitter.com/climateappg/status/1846506195298730307 [Source]

• 28 Sep 2024: Tweet

  RT @energygovuk: Acting to prevent the climate crisis is all about working together to create a safer, energy secure future ???? That's why… [Source]

• 27 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Interesting conversation on industrial decarbonisation with speakers from US, Germany and Chile. At home the UK is working to deliver zero-carbon power by 2030, but we need collective action to decarbonise industry globally. That is where the Climate Club can help. https://twitter.com/KerryMP/status/1839692359027577067/photo/1 [Source]

• 26 Sep 2024: Tweet

  First speech of the day, talking about the UK’s support for innovative climate finance and @climatefinlab’s work. https://twitter.com/climatest/status/1839294530098704896 [Source]

• 26 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Yesterday I reaffirmed UK support for consulting on voluntary high integrity carbon markets during #ClimateWeekNYC Carbon markets are a key tool to raise finance for developing countries, enabling new technologies and land management practices to help us tackle climate change. https://twitter.com/KerryMP/status/1839340668403196178/photo/1 [Source]

• 25 Sep 2024: Tweet

  RT @SadiqKhan: Delighted to see the UK government committing to CHAMP - a crucial step forward in our fight against the climate crisis. G… [Source]

• 25 Sep 2024: Tweet

  I'm proud to sign an agreement with @helderbarbalho and the state of Para in Brazil, host of #COP30 and home to the Amazon Rainforest, to protect the world's forests and biodiversity through high quality carbon credits that will deliver for local communities and the climate. https://twitter.com/KerryMP/status/1839029028222554223/photo/1 [Source]

• 25 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Good to catch up with @huw4ogmore, to hear how Wales has been engaging with the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnership, despite the UK not being one of the 72 countries to sign up at COP28. Glad to be able to confirm today that this UK Government will join #CHAMP. https://twitter.com/wgclimatechange/status/1838642870300946692 [Source]

• 25 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Delighted to sign the UK to CHAMP at #ClimateWeekNYC – showing our commitment to working with sub-national and local government to meet our climate goals and accelerate to net zero. Good to meet with 3ci, @c40cities, city leaders like @JustinMBibb and investors this morning. https://twitter.com/KerryMP/status/1838933269410201736/photo/1 [Source]

• 25 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Important meetings and events on methane, deforestation, energy security for Ukraine, carbon markets, the role of cities in reaching net zero, renewables, and exchanging ideas with the Planetary Guardians, Project Everyone and the High Ambition Coalition. [Source]

• 25 Sep 2024: Tweet

  A very productive couple of days at #ClimateWeekNYC. I'm here to raise global ambition and build alliances so that we can drive the transition to cleaner energy, support those most vulnerable to the climate crisis and make real progress on keeping our 1.5 climate commitment. 1/ [Source]

• 24 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Missing #LabourConference as I’m in New York for #UNGA2024 and #ClimateWeekNYC but great to see Liverpool chosen as the first @UN Accelerator City for climate change action. Liverpool is one of the UK’s greatest cultural exports. Look forward to them showing how it can be done! https://twitter.com/dcms/status/1838520820714316261 [Source]

• 18 Sep 2024: Tweet

  @guyalexwilkins1 @FairtradeUK … to being a Fairtrade city. Now I have the climate brief, which includes issues like deforestation and support for indigenous peoples affected by climate change, I have a chance to act on it. [Source]

• 16 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Thanks to @deirdrecostigan for securing this debate, which gave me a chance to outline our ambitions for COP29 and future climate action. When asked if we’d be appointing a climate envoy I said watch this space… https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/16/david-lammy-appoint-uk-first-special-envoy-nature https://twitter.com/deirdrecostigan/status/1833507966550753372 [Source]

• 10 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  My hon. Friend was a powerful voice on climate issues as deputy leader of Ealing council and as its cabinet member for climate action. I acknowledge from the outset—it has been brought up by a few Members—that local government has a huge role to play in helping us to deliver net zero. As a Bristol MP I would be expected to say that; I have previously boasted about the many achievements of Bristol council on that front in this House. I will not do that today, but it is really important and we are looking at how we can make the local net zero forum work more effectively.

  My hon. Friends the Members for Ealing Southall and for Manchester Rusholme (Afzal Khan) mentioned the impact on diaspora communities living here, including on constituents of Pakistani and Indian heritages. As a Bristol MP, we have a significant Somalian community and we know that the Horn of Africa has been absolutely ravaged by droughts and floods. We are dealing with the consequences of climate change here in the UK, but some people are also dealing with the consequences where their families and friends are based. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall, and I am sure that she will continue to drive this agenda forward in Parliament. I also thank other Members for contributing to the debate and I will reply to some of their specific points later.

  We are almost halfway through what is a decisive decade to halt climate change. As global surface temperatures continue to rise following 12 months of record-breaking warmth; as people around the world face the very real effects of this crisis with rising sea levels, nature loss and food insecurity; and as we see climate vulnerable countries devastated by extreme weather events, it is clear the decisions that we make now will define our planet’s tomorrow. If we want to leave future generations a world that is liveable and safe, we must stick to the Paris agreement and keep 1.5° of global warming within reach.

  As we have heard, we are currently way off track. Last year’s global stocktake confirmed that emissions need to peak by next year and fall by 43% between 2019 and 2030 to reach the Paris goal, yet we are currently on course for global emissions to fall by just 2%. We need to increase climate finance at least fivefold, phase out coal seven times faster, and reduce forest loss at least twice as fast.

  Here in the UK, the Climate Change Committee’s July report provided a wake-up call. It found that the UK is not even on course to hit our own 2030 target of 68% emissions reductions, and highlighted a slowing of pace and reversed or delayed key policies. I will not reply here in detail, but the Government’s response to that report is coming. We will address some of the specific criticisms about domestic policy, including on the new homes standard and energy efficiency. I hope that the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Ellie Chowns) has heard enough about retrofitting and the warm homes agency in other forums. We will very much be announcing our policies across the piece.

  We very much need to up the pace. We are determined as a Labour Government to get us back on track by becoming climate leaders at home and abroad. That means decarbonising our power sector by 2030. We have already taken ambitious steps by lifting the onshore wind ban, giving the go-ahead to major solar proposals despite opposition in some quarters and setting up Great British Energy. We will also ensure that every large company has credible 1.5°-aligned plans for transition. As I said, we will be revealing more details as we move on, particularly in terms of setting out the next carbon budget, but also in our response to the CCC report.

  Demonstrating strong leadership at home will give us the credibility that has been sadly lacking in recent years to demonstrate strong leadership abroad. Several Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) and the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse), mentioned that we were in Dubai last year. It was quite a depressing experience, particularly when we met climate activists from climate vulnerable countries who pressed us on what the UK was doing—the country that led with the groundbreaking Climate Change Act 2008 and then raised the ambition to net zero—and whether it had completely abdicated its sense of international leadership. That was a constant refrain.

  The Energy Secretary hosted the COP29 and COP30 presidencies, as well as Lord Sharma, who presided with distinction over COP26 in Glasgow, at a recent event in London to discuss how we can ramp up global ambitions. He then travelled to Brazil to strengthen ties ahead of next year’s Amazon COP, reflecting that this is a sequence. It is not just about what happens in Baku; we are already looking ahead to COP30 as well.

  In Glasgow, we saw the proportion of global GDP committed to net zero go from 30% to more than 90%. In Sharm El Sheikh, we agreed a landmark fund to support those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Last year in Dubai, we saw real progress on the pledges made in previous years. We welcomed 13 new members to the Powering Past Coal Alliance, including the USA and the UAE, meaning that 180 Governments, businesses and organisations have now committed to phasing out unabated coal power.

  We were one of 123 countries to support the global pledge to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency by 2030. We expanded the breakthrough agenda, which is our clean technology accelerator. We announced £1.6 billion of new international climate finance projects. We agreed half a billion pounds to protect forests and the rural communities depending on them. We committed £50 million for loss and damage to help developing countries to deal with the impact of climate change, and we signed an international green public procurement pledge to boost the use of green steel, cement and concrete.

  Going into this COP, we have three priorities. The first is increasing finance. COP29 presents the first opportunity in 15 years to agree a new post-2025 finance goal. It is critical that the new collective quantified goal addresses the needs and priorities of developing countries, and we stand ready to work with Azerbaijan and its COP29 presidency to make that happen. As I said, meetings have already been taking place with them.

  The second priority is raising ambitions to speed up the global net zero transition. In particular, we want to use COP29 to build momentum for the new nationally determined contributions, which are due by February 2025. We have already started planning our next NDC and we will do everything we can to encourage partners to be ambitious and wide-ranging with theirs. We will also develop a clean power alliance to bring together a coalition of countries at the cutting edge of ambition. Every country must show domestic action to contribute to the critical targets agreed last year on energy, methane, forests and more.

  Thirdly, we must deliver on existing commitments and continue to support people on the frontline of the climate crisis, championing their voices through initiatives such as the climate and development ministerial, which places developing countries at the heart of work to improve access to finance for climate adaptation. I know that the hon. Member for Bath feels strongly about that. We look forward to co-chairing the fourth climate and development ministerial in Baku later this year. We also want to encourage even greater action on deforestation, which accounts for about 10% of global emissions, and we are committed to co-ordinated action outside the main negotiations, including making vital clean technologies accessible and affordable through the breakthrough agenda.

  I will quickly turn to some of the key points made in this debate. I welcome the fact that the hon. Member for Bristol Central (Carla Denyer) and my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow support what we are doing in the consultation on no new oil and gas licences. As they said, it is important that this is a just transition and that we take local communities with us. My hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) talked about the importance of nuclear to his constituency. He has already proved to be a real champion for that; nuclear is very much part of the mix.

  Full debate: COP29: UK Priorities

• 03 Sep 2024: Tweet

  In Commons for @ed_miliband statement on our highly successful auction to support renewable energy projects. “This is a government in a hurry to achieve our mission” ☀️ ???? ????. [Source]

• 26 Aug 2024: Tweet

  Thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Scotland. I saw how our natural resources - wind, waves, tidal currents - can help us generate homegrown clean power, and how protecting our peatlands will help in combatting climate change and reducing emissions, while boosting biodiversity. https://twitter.com/energygovuk/status/1826646989682999524 [Source]