Rachel Reeves MP: Climate Timeline

• Timeline
• Votes
• Speeches
• Tweets
• Contact

Rachel Reeves's Climate-related Tweets, Speeches & Votes

We've found the following climate-related tweets, speeches & votes by Rachel Reeves

• 30 Oct 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Next, we are committed to reforming the energy profits levy on oil and gas companies. I can confirm today that we will increase the rate of the levy to 38%. The levy will now expire in March 2030, and we will remove the 29% investment allowance. To ensure that the oil and gas industry can protect jobs and support our energy security, we will maintain the 100% first-year allowances, and the decarbonisation allowances, too.

  Full debate: Financial Statement and Budget Report

• 29 Oct 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Since taking office, this Government have been working to reset our relationship with our European friends and neighbours. The Prime Minister recently met the President of the European Commission and agreed to strengthen the UK-EU relationship to address global challenges such as the economic headwinds, geopolitical competition, irregular migration, climate change and energy prices. Improving our relationships will be good for business and good for consumers.

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 12 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  The FRS— fiscal risks and sustainability report—builds on previous years’ analysis, examining the risks posed to the public finances by climate change damage, health spending and debt sustainability. The OBR’s analysis shows that the UK will face significant costs from climate-related damage, even in a scenario where the UK and the rest of the world continue with current mitigation commitments. The costs would be more severe if these commitments are not met, which is why one of the Government’s missions is to make the UK a clean energy superpower. The Government have already acted to remove the de-facto ban on onshore wind, approve three major solar projects and significantly increase the budget for the sixth contracts for difference round. The Government will work with the private sector through the newly founded Great British Energy, capitalised with £8.3 billion. Preparing for the future also means adapting to the effects of climate change. Without action, flooding, coastal erosion and other climate hazards will pose greater risks to lives, livelihoods and people’s wellbeing. The Government will explore how to further strengthen our approach to developing the country’s resilience to climate change, working to improve resilience and preparation across central Government, local authorities, local communities, and emergency services.

  Full debate: Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report

• 3 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  The hon. Gentleman speaks powerfully about the huge opportunities at Immingham and on the whole east coast through renewable energy and carbon capture and storage. Part of the reason for the national wealth fund is to invest in industries such as CCS, but also in our crucial steel sector, which is important to so many of the other Government ambitions on growing our economy. We are determined to support the steel sector through that investment from the national wealth fund.

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 02 Jul 2024: Tweet

  Labour will deliver good jobs and renewable energy to the East Coast. Vote for change. Vote Labour on Thursday. https://twitter.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1808152505257279784/video/1 [Source]

• 25 Mar 2024: Tweet

  RT @JoStevensLabour: Great to visit Ynys Môn with @Keir_Starmer & @vaughangething this morning to discuss Wales's huge green energy potenti… [Source]

• 16 Mar 2024: Tweet

  Enjoyed discussing our Green Prosperity Plan with @Ed_Miliband and renewable energy leaders. Everyone around the table was ambitious for Britain's future and committed to helping us meet our net zero goals. Thanks to Greg Jackson and @OctopusEnergy for hosting our Summit. https://twitter.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1768946568638398917/photo/1 [Source]

• 19 Feb 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  First, our record on decarbonisation beats anywhere else in the G7, so we do not take lessons from the United States or any other country in that regard. In relation to the green investment plan by 2030, the hon. Lady should direct her ire at those on the Labour Front Bench for not being clear as to what their plan is. The Leader of the Opposition says— [ Interruption. ] Well, it is important because politics is a contest of ideas, as indeed it is a contest between two parties. If Labour Members believe they can spend an extra £28 billion without that having an impact on taxes and borrowing, they are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the British people.

  Full debate: UK Economy

• 22 Nov 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  We asked the Chancellor to invest in net zero. He made some announcements, but when we work down all his green investment plans and what he calls “green energy” we will find most of the money going into nuclear, the white elephant of the energy sector. [ Interruption. ] As my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) says, it is an absolute shambles. We asked the Chancellor to match the £500 million energy transition fund for the north-east of Scotland, but he has chosen to ignore those opportunities, highlighting again why we need the full powers of independence in Scotland.

  In the Scottish National party, our values lead us to want to alleviate poverty and strive to get rid of it altogether. We seek measures—now and in the future—to help people, and we are acting now, freezing council tax, investing in childcare and saying no to tuition fees. We are using limited powers to mitigate this nasty Tory Government’s cruel policies, such as the rape clause and the bedroom tax. We are keeping our water, our rail services and our NHS in public hands. We are not, like the Tories and Labour, holding the door open for private companies to rush in. We have previously stepped in where Westminster has failed to boost broadband coverage, to increase our renewables, and to champion the just transition.

  Because if we want to get to net zero, we are going to have to have more renewable energy and, unfortunately for the hon. Gentleman and for me, there are days when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow.

  Full debate: Autumn Statement

• 14 Nov 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  And it is the previous Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), who still sets the tune for so many in the Conservative party. She wanted to scrap the bankers’ bonus cap in the kamikaze Budget last year, and that has now been dutifully delivered by this Prime Minister and this Chancellor. When the previous Prime Minister called this year for delaying the timetable for new electric cars by five years, undermining both the net zero consensus and the British automotive industry, this Prime Minister and this Chancellor delivered. Today, the former Prime Minister’s so-called growth commission is setting out its demands for next week’s autumn statement, oblivious to the damage already done. Will the Chancellor tell the House whether he agrees with the person who appointed him to do the job he is now doing and her proposals to slash corporation tax, abolish inheritance tax, abolish stamp duty and other unfunded commitments that make last year’s mini-Budget look like small fry, with tax cuts announced totalling £80 billion?

  Full debate: Economic Growth

• 07 Aug 2023: Tweet

  RT @Keir_Starmer: My Labour government will treat the transition to net zero as a national mission, driven by what is best for working peop… [Source]

• 29 Jul 2023: Tweet

  RT @Ed_Miliband: The cost of living crisis can only be beaten by tackling the climate crisis. That’s what Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan w… [Source]

• 25 May 2023: Tweet

  We must tackle climate change whilst seizing the opportunity to create jobs in future green industries in every part of Britain. Labour will work with businesses and trade unions to create great new jobs with good opportunities for all working people. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/rachel-reeves-copy-joe-bidens-30058580 [Source]

• 20 Mar 2023: Tweet

  NEW: Findings from @IPCC_CH today show we must act now to stop climate breakdown. Yet Tory Ministers face legal action over their failure on net zero targets. Labour will face up to the challenges and grab onto opportunities from tackling climate change. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/ipcc-climate-crisis-report-delivers-final-warning-on-15c [Source]

• 16 Mar 2023: Tweet

  I am optimistic about the future. I believe Britain has the potential to galvanise green energy and get ahead in the global race. That’s what Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan is all about. https://x.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1636405989972008960/video/1 [Source]

• 31 Jan 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  The right hon. Gentleman’s specific suggestion—to be fair, he is making a specific fiscal proposal in relation to the allowance—will hurt one particular sector: the North sea and investment in UK energy. Does he know what the long-term answer to this is? It is not supporting families—we are doing that very generously at the moment—but energy security, investing in nuclear and in the North sea as part of our transition to net zero.

  It would be a pleasure, as ever, to write to my hon. Friend. He mentions countries dependent on gas, but we should be very proud that last year more than 40% of our electricity was generated from renewables and just 1.5% from coal. We have had the fastest-falling emissions in the G7, and a recent report in The Times confirmed that we can get those lower emissions with higher growth. The report said that jobs in net zero sectors pay £10,000 more than the national average, and that south Yorkshire, north Derbyshire, Tyneside and Teesside are all hotspots for net zero jobs. That shows we can deliver on net zero and economic growth.

  Full debate: IMF Economic Outlook

• 19 Jan 2023: Tweet

  Under the Tories, foreign direct investment has plummeted. Labour will decarbonise the economy, create good jobs, boost energy security & make the UK a world leader in the climate transition. With Labour in government, Britain will be open for business. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64322805 [Source]

• 13 Jan 2023: Tweet

  This underlines the Tory dither and refusal to tackle the climate crisis or boost our energy security. And it reveals the failure to grasp the opportunities for good, new jobs across Britain. Only Labour can deliver a fairer, greener future for Britain. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64257057 [Source]

• 26 Nov 2022: Tweet

  Many northern regions are most exposed to the effects of climate change. But these regions are ideally placed to lead the way in the new industries that will power our climate transition. That’s why the North plays a crucial role in Labour’s plan for a greener, fairer Britain. [Source]

• 17 Nov 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  My right hon. Friend understands this extremely well, and he has done very good work with his Committee. This is a national ambition, which means that the Government and every family in the country need to work together to reduce our national energy bill by tens of billions of pounds, to meet our climate change commitments, and to reduce the average bill in this country at today’s prices by nearly £500. It is really worth doing, and we are putting our money where our mouth is with billions of pounds more investment.

  The Chancellor mentioned innovation, and a modern steel industry is vital to our future prosperity, so will he earmark the £200 million originally contributed in good faith by steel producers and now returned to the UK Government from the EU research fund for coal and steel to set up a UK steel innovation fund to develop the steel technologies that we need to drive growth and work towards net zero?

  The Chancellor’s statement is forcing everybody to pay the price for the puncturing of the economy by his Conservative Government, and I put Brexit very much at the core of the problem. Everybody is paying except the big oil and gas companies, because there are still massive tax loopholes for companies drilling for new fossil fuels. Let me ask him this serious question: who is his statement benefiting—the renewable energy companies or the fossil fuel sector?

  The renewable energy companies and people in the traditional energy sector are paying a windfall tax, and as a result, we can have more money for doctors, nurses and people in social care up and down the country. That means that we are investing in the NHS in a way that was not possible when we were in coalition with the Liberal Democrats in 2010.

  Full debate: Autumn Statement

• 06 Nov 2022: Tweet

  RT @BBCPolitics: "There's a vacuum of leadership here" Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband says countries are "not moving nearly f… [Source]

• 06 Nov 2022: Tweet

  Labour will grasp the growth opportunities fighting climate change brings. That means a future of lower bills and greater energy security, of good jobs and a stronger economy, of clean air and water and a thriving planet for our children to inherit. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/05/rishi-sunak-fossil-fuel-prime-minister-in-renewable-age [Source]

• 27 Oct 2022: Tweet

  It is vital to both grow our economy and tackle climate change. Labour will do that with our Green Prosperity Plan - investing in clean energy, home insulation and good jobs across Britain, so we lead on the global stage. The Tories don’t have a clue. https://x.com/ed_miliband/status/1585675045858381824?s=46&t=f9u0KetyFTpg0sMssYYP3g [Source]

• 17 Oct 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  I know the Chancellor has already performed quite a lot of U-turns today, but can I invite him to make another U-turn specifically on fracking? Given that renewable energy is nine times cheaper, would it not make good economic sense to invest in renewables rather than fracking?

  We are not going to do fracking unless it has local consent, but I also say, as someone who believes passionately that we have to do more on climate change, that it is not helping climate change to import hydrocarbons from other countries and say that as a result we are being very virtuous in reducing our own emissions. We need to do what it takes to reduce overall emissions.

  Unless you are a banker on a bumper bonus, which not many of my constituents are, you are looking at higher food prices, higher fuel prices, higher mortgages, reducing wages in real terms, falling benefits in real terms and savage real-terms cuts in public services. Alternatively, my constituents could be building towards a Scotland that is creating 385,000 jobs in renewable energy, producing between three and four times as much energy as we need, and—who knows?—maybe even selling it on at mates’ rates to our friends and neighbours, as long as they treat us well. I respect the Chancellor’s right to dismiss that future. I think he is doing himself an injustice by basing his dismissal on blind, evidence-light dogma, rather than looking at the facts, but does he accept that it is not for him, anyone on the Government Benches or, indeed, anyone on the Opposition Benches to deny my constituents the right to choose between those two futures?

  Full debate: Economic Update

• 12 Oct 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  Well, if the nationalist Administration in Scotland were willing to support more natural gas and oil extraction or indeed nuclear power generation, that would help the energy situation. Renewable energy use in the United Kingdom has increased from, I think, 7% to 42% over the past 12 years, which is very welcome. The energy price guarantee has protected families and businesses across the United Kingdom from bills that could have been £6,000 or £7,000 higher, which is a huge amount. The hon. Gentleman has not mentioned the £37 billion intervention, which particularly helps people on lower incomes, giving them an extra £1,200 a year to support them with bills. The fact that we are in such an economically successful Union means that we can offer things like the energy price guarantee and the £37 billion energy intervention.

  Full debate: Economic Situation

• 26 Sep 2022: Tweet

  Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan is a real plan for tackling climate change.   It is a real plan for growth.   And a real plan for levelling up. We will build a zero carbon economy – one made right here in Britain. https://x.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1574477082293260289/video/1 [Source]

• 23 Sep 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  Scotland is an energy-rich country, but we do not have the power. Scotland’s renewable sector is booming, but in off-gas grid rural Scotland, surround by the wind turbines generating clean, green energy, people have to spend an absolute fortune on heating oil. In Argyll and Bute, Angus, the highlands and islands, and across our rural communities, households have faced increases of more than 230% in the past two years alone. The UK Government’s offer of £100 is nothing short of an insult as people turn to credit cards to fill up their fuel tanks.

  The Scottish Government are doing all in their power to support people through this crisis: strengthening the safety net by increasing the Scottish child payment to £25 a week, doubling the fuel insecurity fund to £20 million and freezing rents, because renters are also facing pressures. We have the highest rate of the real living wage in Scotland, and we have invested in tackling fuel poverty and energy efficiency, but we could do so much more with more budget and more powers. At the back of the Blue Book today, there is still no carbon capture and storage for the north-east of Scotland. It is a game changer for renewables in Scotland. Where is it in the Chancellor’s plans? Nowhere, again. We could have growth by investing in skills, in net zero and in productivity, but the Chancellor’s plans will not achieve that.

  President Putin has weaponised the cost of energy against western economies, and the measures announced today will provide welcome temporary support for our constituents during this terrible time of invasion. Can the Chancellor confirm that the measures to support business that he has announced today will also allow incentives for investment in renewable energy to continue, so that we never again allow Putin to weaponise energy against us?

  I welcome what my right hon. Friend has said, in respect of growth, about investment zones. He said that they would come to the west midlands, which I think will be very helpful in levelling up in the Birmingham area and the west midlands in general. May I remind him, however, of the importance of UK investment in tackling international problems, whether they involve pandemics, illegal migration or climate change? This is about British expertise, but it is also about British money. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that we are on track to restore what was a manifesto promise to bring back the 0.7% aid commitment in 2024?

  My right hon. Friend is well aware of the great opportunities in northern Lincolnshire and the Humber region, particularly in renewable energy. I welcome his announcement on investment zones, and I and the two Conservative local authorities in my constituency will want to work with him to deliver that. Even sooner, however, we can deliver on the Humber freeports. Can he confirm that the freeport designation will continue, and will he unblock the process that is delaying their launch?

  This Budget amounts to an environment wrecker’s charter and it is a statement of missed opportunities. For example, a report just this week shows that a major programme of insulating homes in Britain and installing heat pumps could benefit the economy by £7 billion a year, create 140,000 jobs by 2030, get our fuel bills down and get climate emissions down too. Tucked away on page 14 of the growth report is a tiny reference to some investment in energy efficiency. It is nowhere near enough. Why is the Chancellor setting his face against the kind of retrofit revolution that offers the only viable way out of the current crisis, as well as reducing our dependence on fossil fuels? Is it because, for him, dogma and deregulation trump evidence and common sense every time?

  Today we have heard the promise of accelerated energy infrastructure. For as long as I have been in this place, every south Wales MP has been demanding a tidal lagoon in Swansea bay. Will the Chancellor commit to working with the Welsh Government and Swansea Council to make tidal energy—green energy—a reality in this country?

  Full debate: The Growth Plan

• 30 Aug 2022: Tweet

  RT @NazShahBfd: I'm in Pakistan with @IslamicReliefUK to support with relief efforts & raise awareness about this climate crisis. ❇️ 1/3r… [Source]

• 11 Aug 2022: Tweet

  Firefighters are on the front line of the climate crisis and face the dangerous consequences of inaction. Tory leadership candidates are heading in the wrong direction. Labour will improve our resilience and ensure we meet our climate commitments. https://twitter.com/fbunational/status/1557692034214928385 [Source]

• 04 Aug 2022: Tweet

  And with our Climate Investment Pledge and plan to buy, make and sell more in Britain, a Labour government will build the strong, secure and fair economy we need. (4/4) [Source]

• 04 Aug 2022: Tweet

  Low growth economies cannot rise to meet the challenges of the future. With our Climate Investment Pledge, New Deal for Working People and plan to buy, make and sell more in Britain, Labour will deliver the strong, secure and fair growth we need. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-growth-cost-of-living-oecd-b2137472.html [Source]

• 25 Jul 2022: Tweet

  Great to discuss Labour's Climate Investment Pledge with @MetroMayorSteve today. The Liverpool city region has enormous potential with marine energy, carbon capture and storage and hydrogen. Labour will invest to decarbonise our economy and create the good jobs people deserve. https://x.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1551605349416845317/photo/1 [Source]

• 25 Jul 2022: Tweet

  RT @jreynoldsMP: The @uklabour plan for growth: ???? Public Investment - our Climate Investment Pledge ???? Reform - replacing business rates… [Source]

• 22 Jul 2022: Tweet

  When it comes to tackling climate change, the Tories are dangerously detached from reality. Labour will provide the leadership and action needed to secure our energy, create new jobs and get bills down. @Ed_Miliband and I explain how and why: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/rachel-reeves-ed-miliband-tories-ditching-net-zero_uk_62da6efce4b081f3a8fe1ace [Source]

• 18 Jul 2022: Tweet

  With a Labour government, we will tackle the climate crisis and get our economy firing on all cylinders. Labour will provide the certainty and leadership the Conservatives lack. I will play my role as Britain's first green Chancellor. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/25/rishi-sunak-failing-to-spot-growth-benefits-of-greening-the-economy [Source]

• 18 Jul 2022: Tweet

  And we'd drive forward a green energy sprint, not just to make our energy more secure and help curb the current crisis, but also to get our emissions down and get us properly on the path to net zero. https://labourlist.org/2022/03/labour-set-to-unveil-five-point-plan-for-energy-security-and-sovereignty/ [Source]

• 18 Jul 2022: Tweet

  Here's another example. Our Climate Investment Pledge means we can green the steel industry and ensure a crucial British industry can adapt and prosper. https://inews.co.uk/news/labour-pledges-3bn-investment-in-green-steel-revolution-for-uk-manufacturers-1218557 [Source]

• 18 Jul 2022: Tweet

  What does that mean in practice? One example is that we'd use our Climate Investment Pledge to drive forward our Warm Homes Plan. That means insulating 2 million homes a year - getting bills down by £400 every year & curbing emissions, vital for tackling rising temperatures. [Source]

• 18 Jul 2022: Tweet

  We cannot fail this crucial challenge. And if we don't grasp the opportunities from decarbonising, we'll also miss out on building good jobs and world-leading industries of the future here in Britain. With our Climate Investment Pledge, that is what a Labour government will do. [Source]

• 18 Jul 2022: Tweet

  If we don't face up to the climate crisis and act now, it will end up costing far more in the future. The OBR says inaction could see debt spiral to 289% of GDP. There is no more time to waste, and it’s fiscally irresponsible to do so. [Source]

• 13 Jul 2022: Tweet

  It is what our Climate Investment Pledge is about - alongside a new industrial strategy and our plans to buy, make and sell more in Britain. We'll decarbonise our economy, create good new jobs - including in former industrial towns & coastal communities. https://www.ft.com/content/619e1699-a0f7-4472-ada1-9cb478008f5f [Source]

• 03 Jul 2022: Tweet

  RT @jreynoldsMP: Labour will re-energise our economy with good jobs and investment to meet our climate objectives We will create 30,000 j… [Source]

• 03 Jul 2022: Tweet

  NEW: If we seize the opportunities of the future, we can re-energise our economy, help achieve net zero and create jobs across our country. That’s what Labour will do with our plan to secure manufacturing of electric vehicles here in Britain. More ⤵️ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/02/labour-pledges-to-create-30000-jobs-at-electric-car-battery-gigafactories https://x.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1543547582907039744/photo/1 [Source]

• 03 Jul 2022: Tweet

  RT @jreynoldsMP: Labour’s plans will bring down bills, create jobs and help achieve net zero A Labour government will re-energise Britain’… [Source]

• 26 May 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  We will look closely at the detail of today’s announcements. Of course, most of them seem to be written by us, but so far we have seen nothing to suggest that this Conservative Government have the ideas or the energy to tackle the challenges we face as a country. A Labour Government would have addressed the underlying weaknesses in our economy, so that we can stop this spiral of inflation, lift wages and provide greater security for families and for our country. The truth is that the Conservatives are running our economy, and people’s living standards, into the ground. We are forecast to have the slowest growth and the highest inflation in the G7. This Government have weakened the foundations of our economy, leaving us exposed to shocks as we lurch from crisis to crisis, and still they refuse to come forward with a real plan to fix our broken system and provide the security we need to face the future with confidence. That means boosting our energy security too. We need to do much more to reduce our reliance on imported oil and gas. That is why Labour’s energy security plan includes a programme of home insulation, to reduce bills not just for one year, but for years to come and to get us all the way to net zero. It is why we have urged the Government to double onshore wind capacity and to end the delay on nuclear power. [Interruption.] And while we are at it, why did this Tory Government get rid of our gas storage —[Interruption.]

  I have two questions. Can my right hon. Friend provide assurance that that charge will be applied to excess profits and that those will be distinguished from the increase in profits that would be expected in the natural cycle since the downturn of the past 12 years? Will he also commit to continuing the constructive dialogue with the industry that has been evident from this Government, in the interests of energy security and the transition to net zero?

  It will come as no surprise to the House that I have had my concerns about the implementation of a windfall tax on the oil and gas industry, so I thank the Chancellor for his engagement with me and colleagues, including my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan (David Duguid), and for resisting the ideologically driven smash-and-grab raid proposed by Labour. I also thank him for doubling the investment allowance to encourage people to invest in the North sea. There is still worry in the industry and in my constituency, so will the Chancellor commit to come to the north-east of Scotland to meet me and industry leaders to ensure that we retain the higher skill, high-wage jobs in my part of the world and ensure that we invest in an industry that is driving us towards net zero and making us more energy independent.

  My hon. Friend is a champion for the industry and is right to be so. I am happy to come and meet him and representatives from the sector, because I share his view that the industry is an important part of our economy and of our future. As he said, it helps us transition to net zero and improve our energy supply.

  I welcome the measures, although I sense that my right hon. Friend will need to keep the situation under constant review with further measures possibly required, such as a social tariff and support for those on prepayment meters, as well as initiatives to trigger significant investment in energy efficiency. Transitioning and renewable energy in the North sea is bringing good long-term jobs to coastal communities such as Waveney. I urge him to work with energy companies, as he has indicated that he will, to ensure that their investment is maximised and not undermined.

  By doubling onshore wind capacity, £6 billion could be saved on household bills. It would also reduce our dependence on imported energy, contribute to our net zero targets and create thousands of jobs. Is the Chancellor still blocking the development of onshore wind?

  The Chancellor is slowing one crisis while accelerating another: the climate crisis. Why is he investing in hydrocarbons, which should be staying in the ground, instead of investing in retrofitting properties, which would ultimately save energy costs, as Labour has proposed, and would make a real difference to people’s energy bills?

  Unlike the Labour party, we believe in the North sea and in our domestic energy industry. It employs hundreds of thousands of people, and it will help us to increase our energy security, and to transition to net zero. That is why it is wrong to stigmatise it and absolutely right to support it, and to support its investment ambitions as we do.

  Full debate: Economy Update

• 18 May 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  We need an ambitious plan for the future. That is why Labour will scrap business rates, and the system that replaces them will incentivise investment, promote entrepreneurship and bring life back to our high streets. The race is on for the next generation of jobs, and Labour will make the investment we need with a growth plan to bring opportunities to the whole country, working in partnership with great British industries to get us to net zero and revitalise coastal communities and former industrialised towns. We do not want to be importing all the technologies and products we need; if we can make it here in Britain, we should do so. That is why a Labour Government will buy, make and sell more here at home.

  Full debate: Achieving Economic Growth

• 23 Mar 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  Labour would get the economy firing on all cylinders, ensuring that we buy, make and sell more in Britain, scrapping business rates and replacing them with a fairer system fit for the 21st century, something that small and high street businesses are crying out for, and the Chancellor mentioned not at all in his statement today. Labour would make a climate investment pledge to decarbonise the economy, create good jobs in every part of Britain and strengthen our energy security too. Businesses are seeing unprecedented increases in their costs right now, but all we hear from the Chancellor today is the promise of jam tomorrow, not the support that is needed now. Today’s statement lacks the long-term plan for productivity, skills and growth. Where is it?

  The Scottish Government, by contrast, are doing what they can within their limited budget, to support people: uprating the eight Scottish social security benefits we control by 6% and increasing the Scottish child payment to £20 a week—a lifeline to families. This UK Government should be doing the same. Taking 5p off fuel is something, but it does not help those who are paying for trains and buses. The Chancellor cut air passenger duty during COP26 but he still offers nothing for the millions of commuters who use public transport every day.

  Nuclear energy—which the Government touted an awful lot before today and which, interestingly, was missing from the Chancellor’s statement—is not the answer to reducing people’s bills. It is slow and eye-wateringly expensive. We know from the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill that the Government’s proposals will add £63 billion to people’s energy bills. They should instead fix the long-standing inequality of grid charging, invest more in onshore and offshore wind, tidal and solar, and bring carbon capture and storage in the north-east of Scotland off their reserve bench. They should make it a real net zero transition worthy of the name.

  Once again, quite incredibly, there is climate-shaped hole at the heart of this statement. Once again, the Chancellor did not even mention the word “climate”. That is all the more unforgivable as the measures we need to tackle the climate crisis and those we need to tackle the cost of living crisis are the same. With 6 million people now facing fuel poverty, where is the home retrofit revolution and the investment that we need to make 19 million homes warmer by 2030, saving families £400 on their bills and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process? How many more people will have to freeze in their homes before he will act?

  In his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) on steel, the Chancellor talked a lot about the steel compensation that has been paid. While that is, of course, welcome, the fact is that British steelmakers are still paying 61% more than their German competitors. Steel is a foundational industry that is about good jobs, decarbonisation and our sovereign capability, so why is there absolutely nothing in the statement for our steel industry?

  The Climate Change Committee’s estimates suggest that the overall price tag for retrofitting the UK’s homes—considered some of the most leaky and energy-inefficient in Europe—is £27 billion a year over the next 25 years. Will the Chancellor recognise that this issue needs real commitment and investment, not just tinkering around the edges?

  Full debate: Financial Statement

• 10 Mar 2022: Tweet

  RT @Ed_Miliband: For energy security, to get bills down, and tackle the climate crisis it is time for a green energy sprint. We need go fu… [Source]

• 28 Feb 2022: Tweet

  We need more zero-emission buses, the government promised more zero-emission buses - so why are suitable British manufacturers yet to receive a single order? Labour will buy, make and sell more in Britain to get our economy firing on all cylinders. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/26/boris-johnson-promise-build-4000-zero-emission-buses-green-transport-revolution [Source]

• 3 Feb 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  With regard to the hon. Gentleman’s broader points on the North sea, there is a clear point of difference between us on the Government side of the House and the SNP. We believe in the future of the North sea, in the oil and gas industry, and in the 200,000 jobs it supports, and we want to ensure it plays an important part in our transition to net zero. I hope he can see that that is the right thing for Scotland and will join us in supporting that very important industry.

  My hon. Friend is absolutely right about some of the failures of policy that the Labour party propagated in power. That is being fixed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. We are investing not just in new nuclear, as he said, with billions of pounds at the spending review, but in offshore wind, and—as he knows in his part of the world—carbon capture and storage and hydrogen, where Teesside is playing a starring role in that green energy revolution.

  Full debate: Economic Update

• 03 Feb 2022: Tweet

  RT @jreynoldsMP: Labour’s climate investment pledge and commitment to replacing business rates means we can develop plans for good jobs acr… [Source]

• 03 Feb 2022: Tweet

  In the future, our Climate Investment Pledge will insulate homes, invest in renewables and nuclear, and reform our broken energy system. That's the kind of plan for prosperity and security that families want to see - not the government's sticking plaster. https://x.com/UKLabour/status/1488119883791540230/video/1 [Source]

• 11 Jan 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  I welcome the hon. Lady’s proposals but, although I welcome and support the green energy push as the only way forward, does she agree that the Government should, in these extreme circumstances, consider removing the green tax during the current fuel crisis to bring down prices and thereby prevent the £750 bill increases that each household will receive this year?

  Full debate: Household Energy Bills: VAT

• 30 Nov 2021: Tweet

  Northern Powerhouse Rail could have helped futureproof transport networks, tackle climate change and create good jobs. Instead the PM and Chancellor pocketed the support of those who placed their trust in them to deliver it, and then turned their backs. https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/npr-downgrade-even-more-damaging-than-hs2-axe-says-rachel-reeves-3475821 [Source]

• 13 Nov 2021: Tweet

  "COP26 shows there are many businesses who want to take action on climate now. "Government must now step up to meet the scale of that ambition." Important piece from @SeemaMalhotra1 https://labourlist.org/2021/11/ministers-should-set-out-a-clear-roadmap-to-help-smes-transition-to-net-zero/ [Source]

• 06 Nov 2021: Tweet

  RT @RachelReevesMP: Labour's Climate Investment Pledge will help create jobs we need - from pipe-fitters to retro-fit homes to construction… [Source]

• 06 Nov 2021: Tweet

  Labour's Climate Investment Pledge will help create jobs we need - from pipe-fitters to retro-fit homes to construction managers on offshore wind farms. Meanwhile, the Conservatives chose to cut APD on short haul-flights. My @yorkshirepost column today https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/cop26-how-labour-will-tackle-climate-crisis-and-economy-rachel-reeves-3447102 [Source]

• 03 Nov 2021: Tweet

  RT @abenaopp: 1. Today is finance day at #COP26. The government is dangerously slow on climate action, so we need proof their climate fin… [Source]

• 03 Nov 2021: Tweet

  Labour has a real plan for growth. Our Climate Investment Pledge will create jobs to retrofit houses, on offshore wind farms and in electric car giga factories. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/27/labour-promises-spend-28bn-year-tackling-climate-crisis [Source]

• 01 Nov 2021: Tweet

  RT @UKLabour: The Conservatives’ https://t.co/iYCxhJKffR approach to #COP26 doesn't work. This is the decisive decade to tackle the climat… [Source]

• 31 Oct 2021: Tweet

  .@Ed_Miliband on #Marr showing what ambition on tackling the climate emergency looks like. Labour will make our green transition happen, we will make it happen fairly, and we will use it to drive the jobs and skills of the future we need. #COP26 [Source]

• 27 Oct 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  The Chancellor is failing to tackle another huge issue of the day: adapting to climate change. Adapting to climate change presents opportunities—more jobs, lower bills and cleaner air—but only if we act now and at scale. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, failure to act will mean public sector debt explodes later to nearly 300% of GDP. The only way to be a prudent and responsible Chancellor is to be a green Chancellor: to invest in the transition to a zero-carbon economy and give British businesses a head start in the industries of the future. But with no mention of climate in his conference speech and the most passing of references today, we are burdened with a Chancellor unwilling to meet the scale of the challenges we face. Homeowners are left to face the costs of insulation on their own. Industries like steel and hydrogen are in a global race, but without the support they need. In the week before COP26, the Chancellor has promoted domestic flights over high-speed rail. It is because of this Chancellor that in the week when we are trying to persuade other countries to reduce their emissions, the Government cannot even confirm that they will meet their 2035 climate reduction target.

  There is an alternative. Rather than just tweak the system, Labour would scrap business rates and replace them with something much better by ensuring online giants pay their fair share. That is what being pro-business looks like. We would not put up national insurance for working people. We would ensure that those with the broadest shoulders pay their fair share. That is what being on the side of working people looks like. We would end the £1.7 billion subsidy that the Government give to private schools and put it straight into our local state schools. That is what being on the side of working families looks like. We would deliver a climate investment pledge of £28 billion every year for the rest of this decade: gigafactories to build batteries for electric vehicles; a thriving hydrogen industry creating jobs in all parts of our country; and retrofitting so that we keep homes warm and get our energy bills down. That is what real action on climate change looks like.

  Full debate: Budget Resolutions

• 25 Oct 2021: Tweet

  Tackling the climate emergency presents huge challenges - but it also gives us big opportunities for economic growth. We must grasp those. The only responsible Chancellor is a green Chancellor, and that's the kind of Chancellor I would be. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/25/rishi-sunak-failing-to-spot-growth-benefits-of-greening-the-economy [Source]

• 20 Oct 2021: Tweet

  We cannot be complacent with climate change or let costs from it spiral down the line. That's why Labour's Climate Investment Pledge is crucial. It won't just tackle the climate emergency, but also help us build the skills and jobs of the future we need. https://mobile.twitter.com/skynews/status/1450730418911723524?s=12 [Source]

• 19 Oct 2021: Tweet

  The Chancellor's Net Zero Review fails to rise to the climate challenge. His lack of action will make costs spiral and misses opportunities for British industries. We need fairness & ambition - both are at the heart of Labour's Climate Investment Pledge. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/27/labour-promises-spend-28bn-year-tackling-climate-crisis [Source]

• 14 Oct 2021: Tweet

  RT @Ed_Miliband: Today I set out how Boris Johnson and his government can make Cop26 in Glasgow the success it needs to be, even at this la… [Source]

• 13 Oct 2021: Tweet

  We could be global leaders on tackling the climate emergency if we take the action that's needed now. More on @Ed_Miliband's crucial speech today ahead of #COP26 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58896667 [Source]

• 13 Oct 2021: Tweet

  RT @Ed_Miliband: We cannot let Cop26 be the greenwash summit. It’s time for the Prime Minister to get off his sun lounger, be a statesman a… [Source]

• 04 Oct 2021: Tweet

  Not one mention of climate, net zero or COP26 from Rishi Sunak in his speech today. https://t.co/oKbUwSwspi [Source]

• 28 Sep 2021: Tweet

  We cannot dither and delay when it comes to tackling climate breakdown. The costs will only keep building up. That's why Labour has made a Climate Investment pledge to unlock potential, create secure jobs and protect our planet for future generations. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/27/labour-promises-spend-28bn-year-tackling-climate-crisis [Source]

• 27 Sep 2021: Tweet

  Our plan would incentivise business investment, especially where it helps decarbonise the economy. It's a plan that would reduce uncertainty, reward entrepreneurship, and reward local government for the great work they do to promote economic growth. [Source]

• 14 Aug 2021: Tweet

  Rishi Sunak is undermining the vital action our country needs to take to tackle climate change. He won't even publish the Treasury's Net Zero Review which was due in spring. The UK is hosting COP26, but the Tories cannot lead it with credibility. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/13/treasury-blocking-green-policies-key-to-uk-net-zero-target [Source]

• 09 Aug 2021: Tweet

  RT @Keir_Starmer: The IPCC report is the starkest reminder yet that the climate crisis is here right now and is the biggest long term threa… [Source]

• 07 Aug 2021: Tweet

  The need to tackle the impact of climate change and to create a greener, more sustainable economy is one of the most urgent tasks facing us as a nation Read my ⁦@yorkshirepost⁩ column here https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/five-climate-change-tests-as-extreme-weather-hits-the-world-rachel-reeves-3336854 [Source]

• 04 Aug 2021: Tweet

  RT @Keir_Starmer: The world needs a historic result at COP26 in Glasgow. It's an opportunity for Britain to lead the world - and create go… [Source]

• 27 Jul 2021: Tweet

  5⃣ The economic recovery must be sustainable. We need real, tangible progress towards our net zero goals, while building stronger, more resilient communities with greater wellbeing, and falling rates of loneliness and social isolation. [Source]

• 13 Jul 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, and he speaks powerfully of what he has seen. What has guided former Prime Ministers and Ministers is a moral compass, and I ask the Chancellor what moral compass guides the Prime Minister and Ministers today, as we cut the lifelines of support, and in the midst of a global pandemic as well. For several decades, we have recognised that the world is increasingly interdependent, and that overseas aid helps tackle poverty, infectious diseases and climate change, and reduces conflict, terrorism and the need for people to flee their own countries and seek refuge elsewhere. The Chancellor himself made that point in 2015, arguing that

  Full debate: International Aid: Treasury Update

• 24 Jun 2021: Tweet

  RT @abenaopp: Today's @theCCCuk report shows that the Treasury has not fully achieved a single one of the Committee's 2020 recommendations.… [Source]

• 24 Jun 2021: Tweet

  These findings from @theCCCuk are deeply concerning. Whether on social care, Northern Powerhouse Rail, or tackling #climatebreakdown - with this government, there’s a growing gap between what’s promised and what’s delivered. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/24/uk-policies-will-not-deliver-emission-cuts-pledge-says-climate-adviser [Source]

• 23 Jun 2021: Tweet

  You cannot have a climate strategy without a sustainable economic plan behind it. The Chancellor must publish the final report of his Net Zero Review. https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/net-zero-report-treasury_uk_60d1ab66e4b038d5b9ac1338 [Source]

• 22 Jun 2021: Tweet

  There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling #climatebreakdown. Today – I called on Rishi Sunak to hardwire net zero carbon targets into his Spending Review – as I would do as Chancellor. https://x.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1407305579589156864/video/1 [Source]

• 17 Jun 2021: Tweet

  RT @AnnelieseDodds: Today Labour launches our roadmap to a fairer, more secure future. We will take on the battle of the climate crisis, c… [Source]

• 16 Jun 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  In addition to addressing the public health emergency of covid-19, there is a pressing need for Governments across the world to act decisively to combat climate change. The Climate Change Committee has today criticised the Government’s lack of action on climate-proofing our economy and society. Will the Treasury adopt the same urgency in tackling this crisis as it did when tackling the covid-19 pandemic, by allocating the funding necessary to address the recommendations in today’s report, and accelerating our net-zero transition?

  Future spending commitments on net zero will be matters for the spending review, but the hon. Gentleman will know well the Prime Minister’s commitment to that agenda and the 10-point plan, as well as the leadership that the UK is providing through COP26. This issue is a key priority of the Prime Minister and the Government as a whole. There is much agreement across the House about the urgency of addressing climate change, but spending decisions on that will be for the spending review.

  We come to the result of today’s deferred Division on the Draft Climate Change Act 2008 (Credit Limit) Order 2021. The Ayes were 363 and the Noes were 263, so the Ayes have it.

  Climate Change Bill

  Colum Eastwood, supported by Clare Hanna, presented a Bill to place a duty on the government to declare a climate emergency; to amend the Climate Change Act 2008 to bring forward the date by which the United Kingdom is required to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions; to place a duty on the Government to create and implement a strategy to achieve objectives related to climate change, including for the creation of environmentally-friendly jobs; to require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on proposals for increased taxation of large companies to generate revenue to be spent to further those objectives; and for connected purposes.

  Full debate: Economy Update

• 07 Jun 2021: Vote

  Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill — New Clause 1 - Human Rights Abuses - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 26 May 2021: Vote

  Environment Bill — New Clause 24 - Prohibition on burning of peat in upland areas - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 12 May 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  The label “Made in Britain” is a sign of quality, a stamp that marks British manufacturing as among the very best in the world, yet the Government do not make the most of our assets. Over the past decade, they have failed to support our manufacturing base: so many jobs did not return after the financial crisis; and short-term sticking plasters have left sectors such as steel and shipbuilding as an afterthought. We still have not heard a word about the Government’s vision of how we will become global leaders in manufacturing and industry outside the EU or how we will help our cultural industries. We are talking about our musicians and performers, our farmers and fishermen, who are suffering because of the huge gaps in this Government’s deal with our European neighbours. In the last quarter, exports to the EU were down 18.1%, and exports to countries outside the EU were up by only 0.4%. This Government are lacking in ambition and they are in denial about what businesses need to thrive in this new environment. For example, our automotive sector is the jewel in the crown of British manufacturing, yet the UK has only one planned electric vehicle battery gigafactory. It is not yet under way, yet many are springing up all over Europe and around the world. We cannot afford to be in the slow lane, which is why Labour is calling on the Government to part-finance, in collaboration with the private sector, three additional gigafactories by the end of this Parliament, putting Britain back in the fast lane of car manufacturing. The truth is that if the batteries are not made here, the danger is that the cars will not be either. There is an irony here: in the year we are hosting the COP26 climate conference, the Conservative Government were pursuing new coal mines in Cumbria and have failed, through sheer incompetence, to deliver their own green homes grants that they promised. For the green future that we need to tackle the climate emergency we can choose to be world leaders or we can allow our communities, businesses and workers to be left behind. Tackling the climate crisis and creating the high-paid, high-skilled jobs in every corner of our country would have been front and centre of a Labour Queen’s Speech.

  Creating good jobs in all parts of our country, for all people; tackling the climate emergency; making sure that all our town centres are thriving and prosperous; supporting British industry and rights for workers—those would have been Labour’s economic priorities in the Queen’s Speech. They are clearly not the priorities of this Conservative Government. The challenges and the opportunities facing our country are great, yet what the Government are putting forward is so small. After just 24 hours, we can already see how thin this Queen’s Speech is. The foundations were not strong enough going into the pandemic, and people deserve something better than what they had before. The Conservatives have taken for granted those who have kept our economy and our essential services moving this last year, and they continue to undervalue all that our key workers do.

  Full debate: Better Jobs and a Fair Deal at Work

• 12 May 2021: Tweet

  Creating good jobs in all parts of our country, tackling the climate emergency, making sure all of our town centres are thriving and prosperous, and supporting British industry and rights for workers. Those would have been Labour’s economic priorities in the Queen’s Speech. [Source]

• 13 Jan 2021: Vote

  Financial Services Bill — Schedule 2 - Prudential regulation of FCA investment firms - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 30 Dec 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  It is important that the Bill passes today, limited as it is, because no deal is no solution for our country. We vote on the foundations of a deal that Labour will build on. Though we have left the EU, we remain a European nation with a shared geography, history, values and interests. The job of securing our economy, protecting our national health service, tackling climate breakdown and rebuilding our country has only just begun.

  Full debate: European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

• 10 Dec 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  Investing in green industries and our transport infrastructure will be key to building back better after the pandemic and transitioning to net zero. With Government support, the automotive sector, including Vauxhall in my constituency, could move more quickly to producing more electric vehicles and councils could move to implementing the required green infrastructure to support them. Will the Minister outline whether a position on what is considered state aid has been reached, and whether any agreement will enable Government to invest in and subsidise green sectors?

  Full debate: Future Relationship with the EU

• 9 Dec 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  The hon. Gentleman makes several very important points. The first is that we absolutely need to support upland farmers, not just in his beautiful constituency and Cumbria, but across the United Kingdom. It is the case that sustainable livestock farming is the only way in which we can make sure that we have agriculture in the future in upland and grassland areas such as the one that he represents. The second thing is that, yes, there is a prospect of tariffs if we do not secure a free trade agreement, which is why we need to have support systems in place for those. The third point is that the new system of support that we are giving to farmers combines support not just for small farmers, but for the climate change and environmental goals that we both share. It is important that we reform the common agricultural policy in that way, but I look forward to continuing to work with him, because I know that his commitment to rural England and our farmers is resolute.

  I welcome the agreement and thank my right hon. Friend and his civil service team for getting us to this stage, but may I urge him to spend some time with the Protestant Unionist loyalist community, who have retained concerns about the detail? I suggest that Mikala’s Kitchen on the Shankill Road is the best place for that engagement. Could he also now spend some time with the nationalist community, unaligned voters and passionate supporters of the European Union in Northern Ireland to demonstrate to them that the practical approach that he and the EU have taken on the protocol can now be replicated on issues such as climate change, health, jobs and the future of all people across the island of Ireland?

  Full debate: EU Withdrawal Agreement

• 16 Nov 2020: Vote

  Pension Schemes Bill [Lords] — Clause 124 - Climate change risk - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 29 Sep 2020: Vote

  United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — New Clause 6 - Economic development: climate and nature emergency impact statement - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 23 Sep 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  I am sure we are all aware that when we finally leave the transition period, at the end of the year, we will also be leaving behind the common agricultural policy, which has done such damage not only to agricultural economics but to our environment. Will my right hon. Friend detail how the replacement system we are preparing will be better for farmers, fairer, and better for our agricultural economy and our environment, and how it will support our target of net zero?

  Full debate: EU Exit: End of Transition Period

• 16 Jun 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  The hon. Lady asked about workers’ rights, environmental rights and consumers’ rights. The UK has a proud record in all those areas. Governments both Labour and Conservative, and politicians from Barbara Castle to Margaret Thatcher, have been in the van of ensuring that, whether it is equal pay or the fight against climate change, the UK has led and will continue to lead the world. In any trade or other agreements that we sign, our commitment to the rights of our citizens, to protection for workers and to putting the future of the planet first is absolutely non-negotiable.

  Full debate: UK-EU Negotiations

• 11 Mar 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  Today’s Budget should have been a green Budget. It should have been the greenest Budget ever because, in eight months’ time, we have the privilege and responsibility of hosting COP26 in Glasgow. This is an opportunity for Britain to show global leadership and to show our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that we have done all we can to tackle the climate emergency. Yet what have we had in the Budget today? We have had £27 billion to invest in 4,000 miles of roads, and the fuel duty freeze, which costs £2.7 billion, but just £6 billion for local transport and a mere £140 million for a one-year extension of the electric vehicle grants. Frankly, that does not speak of a Government who recognise the scale of the challenge we face, and I urge them to ensure that in the spending review and the national infrastructure plan we are much more ambitious in tackling the climate emergency.

  The Government announced £800 million for carbon capture and storage today. Those of us who served on the Select Committee on Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the last Parliament will very much welcome that, but there is a lot of fanfare when the Government make these announcements and not so much when they cancel them. Just four years ago, the Government cancelled £1 billion of investment in CCS, yet they expect us to stand up and cheer when they announce £800 million today. We could be well on the way in delivering CCS, but instead we are four years behind, allowing other countries to steal a lead on us and take advantage in the global market for these new technologies.

  I welcome the investment in flood defences that the Chancellor announced today, and well I might, as my constituency was badly affected by Storm Eva and the floods in 2015. We are spending £5.2 billion on flood defences and I am sure that we will be spending much more than that in years to come, because as the climate emergency worsens, we are going to be at greater risk of extreme weather events and flooding. It would be much better to be spending more to tackle the climate emergency, in order to ensure that we do not have these extreme weather events and flooding. So, again, I urge the Government, ahead of COP26, to ensure that we are doing everything we can to tackle the climate emergency that we face.

  I shall end by saying that we have waited a long time for this Budget, but I expect we will be hearing a lot more from the Chancellor in the weeks and months ahead, as he has to come back to this House with a range of projects on national infrastructure, on the spending review and, possibly, on tackling the coronavirus as well. When he gets it right, he will get support from our side of the House, as he does on flood defences and the investment in the national health service today, but it is the Opposition’s role to scrutinise the Government and push them to go further to support all our constituents, be it on coronavirus or the climate emergency.

  Full debate: Budget Resolutions

• 4 Mar 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  Climate change is only going to make these matters worse and more pressing. We know that water levels are rising. We know that ice caps are melting. We know that our weather is becoming more unpredictable, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) pointed out. So in future we will need to be better protected and better prepared for floods. That is all that people in Leeds are asking for. We are asking to be better protected and better prepared, because it is a case of when and not if we get flooding in Leeds again. We have done everything we can in Leeds to ensure that we get the flood defences we need. We now look to the Government to come up with that £23 million to ensure that we do level up the flood defence spending so that the people of Kirkstall and Burley get the flood defences we need. That can only happen if the Government deliver on their promises.

  Full debate: Flooding

• 3 Mar 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  May I follow up on the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead) about our fourth and fifth carbon budgets? Those carbon budgets are premised on achieving an 80% reduction in carbon emissions, yet this House has unanimously passed legislation to achieve net zero. It is neither coherent, nor showing leadership, for our fourth and fifth carbon budgets to be based on an outdated objective that this House has rejected. Can the Secretary of State confirm that we will be updating our fourth and fifth carbon budgets—and, crucially, that we will meet them?

  Full debate: COP26

• 05 Feb 2020: Vote

  Transport - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 20 Jan 2020: Parliamentary Speech

  This is not some abstract ideal. It is the basis of an economy that: values workers by paying them a decent wage and offering them some dignity and security in the workplace; supports businesses that play by the rules and invest in our economy while ensuring that big businesses do not exploit the system; and invests in every region and nation of our country—in green energy and transport, infrastructure and skills to help our economy to thrive for everyone.

  Full debate: Economy and Jobs

• 16 Jul 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  The most recent report from the Committee on Climate Change shows that we are moving in the wrong direction in terms of meeting our fourth and fifth carbon budgets. We have now rightly strengthened those objectives to achieve net zero, but without a single policy to help us get there. The long-awaited energy White Paper has still not been published, so can the Minister confirm today that that White Paper will be published before the summer recess and that it will include policies to get us there with onshore wind, solar technology, battery storage and electric vehicles?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 10 Jul 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, which I chair, working with five other Select Committees, will in the autumn be setting up a series of citizens’ assemblies to address exactly the challenges and issues that the hon. Lady has mentioned. If we are going to achieve net zero, it will of course require Government policies and Government action, but it will also require all of us to do things differently in our own lives—whether that is the number of times a year we fly, the cars we buy, our diet or how we heat our homes. All of these things will require trade-offs, but I believe they will also create huge opportunities.

  The hon. Lady spoke about some of the negative changes in our lives but, over the past few years and decades, reducing our carbon emissions has created better cars and more jobs, and I believe that moving towards a net zero economy and a net zero society will create more jobs and more opportunities. If we are at the forefront and lead this new industrial revolution, we stand to benefit the most from it—we will not stand to lose the most, as some hon. Members seem to suggest—because we will create jobs, skills and technologies that we can export to other countries. That will grow our economy in a way that does not destroy our planet.

  I thank the hon. Lady for her enthusiasm and for the opportunity to intervene. She will be aware that the Committee on Climate Change has said that this is about upscaling and making sure that we have the skills we need right across the country. In places like Cornwall, which I represent, the skills are not there and low-paid jobs are the norm. Does she agree that this gives us the opportunity to create wealth and spread it across every corner of the United Kingdom?

  I am proud that this was the first Parliament to pass a climate change Act in 2008, and that the current Parliament has set a target of achieving net zero by 2050 but, as Lord Deben said on the publication of the report of the Committee on Climate Change today, international ambition does not deliver domestic action. That is an important point for us to dwell on. I welcome the bid to host COP 26 next year, and I welcome the fact that we are the first country to legislate for net zero, but we will achieve it in 2050—I hope we achieve it sooner—only if we put policies in place today to make it happen.

  My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and I entirely agree with her. Enfield Council will pass its climate change plan tonight but, on her point about the need for action, does she agree that one action the Government could take is not to subsidise fossil fuels? Fossil fuels have caused so much damage over the years, particularly in developing countries.

  We have made huge progress in just the last decade in terms of our reliance on fossil fuels, and we can now get through a week or two without using coal. By 2025, we will not be using coal to generate energy in this country, and that is fantastic. But as the shadow Secretary of State for International Development said in his speech earlier, we are still funding and investing in the development of fossil fuels overseas. Climate change and the emission of carbon is not something that we can just tackle here at home. It is no good reducing our carbon emissions in the UK if we fund investment in them overseas. That is why international action matters, but so do the investment decisions that British companies and the British Government make. Like Enfield, Leeds City Council has declared a climate emergency and is putting in place policies to address it, which is very welcome in our city.

  Our Committee has produced several reports over the last few years on practical things that the Government could do. It has been disappointing at times that our recommendations and suggestions are often rejected by Ministers, when if they had accepted them, we might be a little closer to meeting some of our objectives. On electric vehicles, our Committee recommended that the target of 2040 be brought forward to 2032, and that was before the Government committed to net zero.

  The Committee on Climate Change today said:

  “for a phase-out of petrol and diesel cars by 2040 is too late and plans to deliver it are too vague. A date closer to 2030 would save motorists money, cut air and noise pollution and align to the net-zero challenge.”

  I urge the Minister to look at the evidence from the Committee on Climate Change, and the evidence that our Committee took, which points resolutely to the need to bring forward the date for phasing out the internal combustion engine.

  The Committee also heard evidence that since the Government scrapped the green new deal, improvements to existing housing stock are just not happening. They are not happening in social housing, the private rented sector or the owner-occupied sector. Unless that happens, we have no chance of meeting the net zero commitments. I urge the Government to look at that when our report is published, and not reject our conclusions and recommendations, which happens far too often, but engage with them, adopt them and put them in place. Only by doing that do we have any chance of meeting the targets that we all say we want to achieve.

  I would like to finish where I started—with what Sir David Attenborough said at our Select Committee yesterday. He said that we “cannot be radical enough” when addressing climate change. If we listened to the young people who have been on strike, the protesters, the people who came to listen to that evidence session and all the people who tune into programmes about our natural environment, this would be a national emergency. We would be taking steps commensurate with the scale of the challenge. I very much welcome the Government’s commitment to net zero by 2050, but it is now imperative that we put in place the policies that will help to achieve that, so that our generation can pass on to our children and grandchildren a better world and a better planet.

  Full debate: Climate Change, the Environment and Global Development

• 25 Jun 2019: Vote

  Delegated Legislation — Value Added Tax - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 24 Jun 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  I am proud to speak in this debate, and I am proud that the country that first legislated with the Climate Change Act in 2008 is going a step further today by updating the Act and will be the first G7 economy to legislate for net zero. I think we should all be proud of those achievements. But the role of Parliament, and my role as Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is, where appropriate, to push the Government to go further in a whole range of areas. Those areas include electric vehicles and carbon capture and storage, on both of which my Select Committee has produced reports. Another is energy efficiency, on which a report is coming shortly looking at energy efficiency in homes and at the building of homes—we must not build homes today that we know are not fit for the future given the new commitments that we are making.

  Other such areas are international aviation and shipping, which I am disappointed are not included in the SI we are debating today. The chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, Chris Stark, who gave evidence to our Select Committee, said that it was absolutely imperative to include international aviation and shipping in our climate change commitments, because they contribute 10% of our carbon emissions. I hope the Government will look at that evidence again and update our legislation in light of it.

  There are other things that we need to do. Our Committee took evidence last week, including from the World Wide Fund for Nature, which said that a target of 2045 was eminently possible. We heard other evidence that by 2050 we should be looking not at net zero, but at taking carbon out of the atmosphere, as my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead) said earlier, with a 120% target to do exactly that. I hope that when we have the five-year review we can look at being more radical and going further, so that we achieve net zero before 2050 and continue to be a world leader and ensure that we are at the forefront of creating green jobs and taking the opportunities that meeting this target will offer.

  Full debate: Climate Change

• 11 Jun 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  We have a moral obligation to bring our carbon emissions down to net zero, and there are real economic and social benefits in doing so. Although the Chancellor has expressed his scepticism, despite the fact that we face a climate catastrophe, will the Minister offer real leadership and commit the Government to supporting the Bill I will be presenting to the House this afternoon to bring down our carbon emissions to net zero by 2050?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 21 May 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  19. Climate change is increasing the risk of flooding, and despite devastating floods in my constituency in 2015, the Government have not yet committed funding for the one-in-200-year scheme that the Chief Secretary knows is needed to protect businesses in Kirkstall in my constituency. The gap now is just £23 million, so will the Government make it a priority in the comprehensive spending review, even if that spending review is just for one year? ( 911020 )

  Full debate: Climate Change

• 30 Apr 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  19. The Committee on Climate Change says that we need to double our production of onshore wind in the next decade; instead, it is likely to halve because of this Government’s ideological opposition to it. We are not on target to meet our fourth and fifth carbon budgets, let alone achieve net zero, so will the Government end their ideological opposition to onshore wind so that we can hand a better planet on to future generations? ( 910611 )

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 6 Sep 2017: Parliamentary Speech

  5. What progress the Government have made on delivering renewable energy projects in Wales. ( 900693 )

  Full debate: Renewable Energy Projects

• 06 Sep 2016: Vote

  Finance Bill — VAT on Installation of Energy Saving Materials - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 09 May 2016: Vote

  Housing and Planning Bill — Planning obligations and affordable housing - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 6 Jan 2016: Parliamentary Speech

  The second issue I want to raise is that of flood defences. The 2012 climate change risk assessment identified flooding as the top risk to the UK from climate change. The Government must wake up to the fact that extreme weather events are now an increasing feature of British weather and must reassess the cuts to flood defences.

  Full debate: Flooding

• 04 Dec 2013: Vote

  Recall of Elected Representatives — Schedule 4 — Application and modification of emissions limit duty - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 12 Feb 2013: Parliamentary Speech

  It is no wonder that, last year, 50 companies, investors and industry bodies wrote to the Chancellor asking him to set a firm decarbonisation target for 2030 to give investors the confidence they needed. On energy policy, the Institution of Engineering and Technology has been clear in saying:

  Full debate: Infrastructure

• 17 Oct 2012: Vote

  Relationship, Drug and Alcohol Education (Curriculum) — New Clause 22 — Interpretation of the green purposes: duty to assess impact on the Climate Change Act 2008 - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 11 Jun 2012: Vote

  Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 23 May 2012: Parliamentary Speech

  If the hon. Lady wants to know more about why those arrangements came into place, she could ask her Front-Bench colleagues if they were here. She could ask the Leader of the Opposition, for example, as two cases date back to his time as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. She could ask the shadow Home Secretary, as nine cases date back to her time as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. She could ask the shadow Health Secretary, as 45 cases date back to his time as Secretary of State for Health. She could ask her colleague the shadow Chancellor, because at least 24 cases date back to his time as Secretary of State for Education. Yes, it is once again their mess and we are cleaning it up.

  Full debate: Public Appointees (Tax Arrangements)

• 16 Apr 2012: Parliamentary Speech

  Perhaps we should instead take a lesson from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, who warned:

  Full debate: Finance (No. 4) Bill

• 14 Sep 2011: Vote

  Prime Minister — Clause 42 — Domestic energy efficient regulations - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 14 Sep 2011: Vote

  Prime Minister — Clause 42 — Domestic energy efficient regulations - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 14 Sep 2011: Vote

  Prime Minister — New Clause 1 — Energy efficiency aim - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye