15:23 David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)

As well as the carbon price floor, which we have unilaterally imposed in this country, there is the renewables and climate change stuff that we continue to impose on this country unilaterally. I want to consider the massive differences between what we are doing on this and what others are doing—not the Chinese or the Indians, because it is quite reasonable that they do less than us as they have so far to catch up, but the rest of the EU.

One of the big myths about carbon policy is that it is the EU making us do all this stuff. There was a bit of that in some renewables directives, but by and large, that is not the case. By and large, nothing going on now in climate change policy—policy that we may or may not agree with—is caused by the EU. It is caused by us, by the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Committee on Climate Change.

In terms of progress on emissions and climate change, a very good database called EDGAR—the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research—shows emissions per capita, per unit of GDP for all the countries in the world, and how they are moving and changing. It is worth reflecting that Austria, a relatively prosperous, affluent part of Europe, has increased its carbon emissions per head by 20% since 1990, while we have decreased ours by something like 15% or 20%. There is no consistency of approach, which is extraordinary.

I asked the Committee on Climate Change at a meeting recently, “What about these industries? All other things being equal, if we decide that we wish to continue having the highest energy prices in Europe and so on, what does that mean for them?” One person on the committee said, “It’s about comparative economic advantage.” The theory of comparative economic advantage says that a developed economy should probably not be doing some of these things. The implication is that it is probably right to leave steel production behind and move into making aeroplanes and so on. That is the thinking in some parts of the Committee on Climate Change. Either parliamentarians wish to challenge that, or we accept it. At the moment, that is the consensus on action—I personally think it is wrong.

In summary, let me repeat these points. There will not be a march of the makers or if there is, it will be a march to the EU, to the USA and to China, if we continue to concede a massive gas price advantage to the United States and a massive electricity price advantage to the European Union, and if we are not careful about the issue of dumping in China. The Minister is not from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, so she may not be able to answer this question, but I also want to know why the UK is going unilaterally so much further than others and whether there is any chance of others following us in future, because it is very clear that they have not followed us yet.

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15:41 Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)

The Scottish Government’s decarbonisation of industry steering group promotes and co-ordinates action to support energy-intensive industries, such as the steel industry, in making the transition to lower-carbon forms of production.

The Scottish Government’s steering group specifically helps them to deliver their emissions reductions under the EU emissions trading system and to meet legal obligations such as the UK climate change levy and the energy savings opportunity scheme.

We need only look at Sweden, for example, to see that electricity prices in the UK are needlessly high. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, Swedish industry pays only €0.067 per kilowatt-hour for electricity. In the UK, the figure is exactly double that. Sweden has decided that fracking is not economically viable and is also phasing out nuclear. Renewable energy in the form of hydropower is now the single large source of electricity in the country, and wind power production is growing at a phenomenal pace—it has more than quadrupled over the past six years. We must aspire to cleaner, lower-carbon, sustainable forms of energy if we want to support industry in the long term.

The Scottish renewables sector has massive potential. The waters surrounding Scotland have the potential to provide it with a sustainable, renewable energy source—they are estimated to account for up to 25% of Europe’s tidal power and 10% of its wave power, as well as about 25% of European offshore wind resource potential. That renewable potential is being impaired, however, by the regressive energy policies of the UK Government, who are cutting support for onshore wind and vital support for solar energy projects, and slashing hydro tariffs.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned the difference between emissions in the UK and the EU—the EU seems to have signed up to a 50% to 60% lower emissions reduction than the UK. He then spoke about the emissions trading system and the failure to make progress on climate change. He mentioned Austria—it is interesting that its carbon emissions have increased. He asked the Minister who is right—are we going down the right road, or are other countries?

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15:52 Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)

The hon. Gentleman talked about the problem of energy prices in the UK and, as ever, gave a thoughtful and informative speech. He was followed by the hon. Member for Warrington South (David Mowat) who, in a way, put his finger on many of the fault lines. I will perhaps return to his comments about the Labour party in a moment, but until yesterday, none of us was sure which Department would respond to the debate. Only at the last moment did I find out that it would the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills instead of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The information from official channels was that there was some question. That is not a criticism and I hope the Minister does not take exception, but it emphasises the fault line in this area that the hon. Gentleman explored in his comments about the tension in the appropriate desire for us to do something about climate change.

We have the Climate Change Act 2008, as the hon. Gentleman rightly pointed out, which was supported cross-party—not by everyone in the House obviously, but certainly by those on both Front Benches. It is an appropriate ambition. We want to save the planet from the possible consequences of not acting, but the tension arises from the need to make sure that in doing so we do not kill off our vital industries. The hon. Gentleman pointed out the tension, which exists not just in my party, but probably in the Conservative party to some extent. The fact that this debate was allocated late, with apparently some internal debate about who should take it, illustrates his point.

Indeed, and that was the central strand, obviously, of the hon. Gentleman’s remarks and why I described them as a challenge to us all. The points that he made provide deep food for thought about what is the best way forward to ensure that we fulfil our obligations in relation to climate change, but also have the kind of strategy that will make sure that these industries can be sustained and can prosper into the future, because of their importance to our economy.

“Government must use the 2050 Roadmap project to devise a radical new approach to the decarbonisation of energy intensive industry. This must include a credible industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) strategy and serious consideration of financial support for industry.”

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16:05 The Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise (Anna Soubry)

We have to get the balance right in our country by reducing our carbon emissions and playing our part in all that, but not at the expense of these vital manufacturing industries. It is difficult. It is not all about green taxes, if I can use that expression. Such is our concern in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills that only today I spoke to one of my officials about the high cost of electricity. We talked about why, as my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South explained, it is higher in this country than in Germany and France. One of the reasons, as well as the reasons my hon. Friend mentioned, is the higher cost of transmission. We want and need to look at that, and we will work with our colleagues in the Department of Energy and Climate Change to ensure that we are doing the right thing by industries throughout the UK.

I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change because, in her, we have somebody who can combine these twin drivers: ensuring that we play our part in reducing carbon emissions and keeping our planet cleaner and greener; and, at the same time, not doing so at the price of undermining and having an adverse impact on our excellent manufacturing sector. I wanted to put that on the record and make it clear.

My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South suggested that we have a different trajectory to decarbonising from the rest of Europe. I am told that the UK’s trajectory is in line with the emissions reduction trajectory set by the EU and applied in other member states. That does not mean that I will not take that important point away and make further inquiries.

The Climate Change Act 2008 mandates a far steeper decline in emissions than any equivalent European legislation. I am sure of my ground on that point, so it would be good if the Minister chatted with her officials about that afterwards.

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