Written statement: Government’s Plan for meeting Carbon Budgets 4-6 - Oct 29

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband): Today, I am making a statement on the government's approach to meeting our carbon budgets, and the benefits this brings to the British public and industry – delivering growth, increasing energy security and lowering bills. I am proud of the progress the UK has made to date, but further action is needed to build on that success and fully embrace the opportunities clean energy and climate action present for our country.

We are publishing the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan(opens in a new tab), which sets out how we will meet our targets while driving economic opportunity and delivering for those across the UK.

We are also publishing the government response to the Climate Change Committee's 2025 Progress Report in Reducing Emissions(opens in a new tab).This responds to the points that the CCC raised and sets out key government achievements in the past year.

Alongside this, we are publishing an Investor Prospectus(opens in a new tab), which signposts the opportunities for companies and investors that will drive clean economic growth.

Finally, we are also publishing the Methane Action Plan(opens in a new tab). This is forward looking and action-focused, detailing the key methane abating policies we have developed as part of our carbon budgets, alongside highlighting progress the UK has made so far.

Together, these publications demonstrate the rapid progress we are making towards our mission to become a clean energy superpower, showcasing the breadth of action across government. We will grow our economy and create good jobs, while improving our nature and biodiversity. These plans will deliver a wide range of economic and societal benefits – protecting our country for the long term and delivering immediate benefits for households:

• Energy security: This government is taking back control by investing in homegrown clean power to protect the British people. Great British Energy, our publicly owned clean energy company, has kicked off its first projects - putting solar panels on around 250 schools, around 260 NHS sites and 15 military sites to cut their bills and save money that can be reinvested in frontline services. We are also ushering in a new golden age of nuclear. In July, a final investment decision was taken to build Sizewell C in Suffolk with £14.2 billion funding allocated for this Parliament, as well as investment in nuclear fusion and over £2.5 billion for small modular reactors.

• Jobs and growth: Clean energy and climate action will create new businesses, attract huge levels of investment into the UK, and create highly skilled, well paid job opportunities across the country. Our recently published Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out how government, industry and trade unions will work together to recruit the workers needed for our mission and ensure people across Britain can benefit from the good jobs with high wages that clean energy brings. For too long the competitiveness of British industry has been held back by the high cost of electricity. In the Industrial Strategy, we announced additional support for 7,000 energy intensive firms through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, which will reduce electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour. These reforms complement the government's clean power 2030 target, which is the only way to bring down bills for good by ending the UK's dependency on volatile fossil fuel markets.

• Improved quality of life: From warmer homes to cleaner air to more affordable travel, clean energy and climate action will improve the lives of people across the UK. We will shortly publish our Warm Homes Plan, kicking off Britain's biggest programme of home upgrades in generations. This will be backed by £13.2 billion of public investment to upgrade up to 5 million homes over this parliament to lower bills and tackle fuel poverty. Meanwhile, the Electric Car Grant, launched in July, is making EVs cheaper by offering discounts of up to £3,750 on eligible models. This complements wider efforts to make electric vehicle charging easier, fairer and more accessible for all.

• Protecting our natural world: We must address the climate and nature crisis together. That's why are supporting farmers with up to £2.7 billion per year of funding for farming and nature recovery which includes funding for nature schemes such as tree planting and peatland restoration. In addition, the government is investing £816m in our tree planting programme through to 2030. By 2030, we will also invest £85 million to bring back our wild peatland.

We have moved at speed on our mission over the last 16 months, but we have much further to go to address the long-term challenges we face as a country and bring the benefits to families and businesses as quickly as we can.

This government will keep fighting to seize the opportunities that clean energy and climate action offer, acting to protect the British people now and for generations to come.