VoteClimate: Rural Depopulation - 11th September 2024

Rural Depopulation - 11th September 2024

Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Rural Depopulation.

Full text: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-09-11/debates/5E08C09D-DDBB-42CF-B287-56A0A2D8080D/RuralDepopulation

14:43 Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat)

Fifty years later, as we enter a period of decline in oil and gas as part of our economy, the just transition matters to us more than anywhere else. We see opportunities for our community in the development of, for example, marine renewables, tidal power and tidal stream generation, but if we push oil and gas off a cliff before the technologies are mature enough to come on stream, people will not hang around in places such as Orkney or Shetland, waiting for something else to happen. They have a history and a legitimate expectation of working in good, well-paid jobs, and they will take their skills elsewhere.

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14:57 Lizzi Collinge (Labour)

We must ensure that these homes are energy efficient. In the face of both the climate crisis and soaring energy costs, it is imperative that any new housing meets high environmental standards. By doing that, we are not only addressing housing affordability, but preparing our rural areas for a sustainable future.

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15:18 Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat)

We have talked about accommodation, and the Highland council, on which I was a councillor, has £1.2 billion of borrowing, yet 40% of our housing budget is spent on interest payments. That is a catastrophe. Basically, we cannot borrow any more money to build more housing. The utility companies that are building renewable energy projects across the whole of the highlands need to build properties that will remain there for generations rather than modular housing for the extent of the jobs or projects, and the same should go for the owners of fish farms. It would make a big difference if the private and public sectors worked together, because I fear that public sector housing will not be able to fill the gap.

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