Monday 8 December,
14.30, Thatcher Room, Palace of Westminster
Energy and Net Zero Secretary will appear before the cross-party Environmental
Audit Committee next Wednesday, after leading the UK's delegation
at the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil.
In the high-level text produced from the conference, countries
re-committed to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. However,
parties did not agree to deliver a ‘roadmap' away from fossil
fuels, which had been supported by 86 countries, including the
UK. The Secretary of State said the UK would continue to work
with Brazil on delivering the roadmap outside official
negotiations.
The Committee had recommended the UK announce a contribution at
COP30 to the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) a
Brazil-led initiative using the returns from bond investments to
incentivise forest conservation.
However, despite helping to design the mechanism, the UK made no
such commitment. Mr Miliband told the House of Commons that this
was due to fiscal circumstances in the UK, and that the
Government would keep its decision under review. The UK also made
no new international climate finance commitment either at COP30
or in the November Budget, saying only that further announcements
on this would be made over the coming months
Topics MPs are likely to discuss with the Secretary of State
include:
- Under what circumstances the Government would commit new
money to the TFFF, and whether not doing so could undermine UK
leadership
- When the Government will announce details of the UK's climate
finance commitments from next Spring
- How the Secretary of State is driving climate action across
Government
- How the UK can ensure a just transition to net zero, and
support workers whose jobs are threatened
- The Government's climate and nature priorities between now
and COP31
Witnesses
From 14.30:
- Rt Hon MP, Secretary of State at
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
- Ryan McLaughlin, Director, Net Zero at Department of Energy
Security and Net Zero
- Kate Hughes, Director and UK Lead Climate Negotiator at
Department of Energy Security and Net Zero
