(Brighton, Pavilion)
(Green)
I rarely agree with the Prime Minister, but last week, when he
said that COP26 showed that we could end our reliance on fossil
fuels, I did agree with him. That, however, prompts the question
of why his Government are pressing ahead not just with
the Cambo oilfield, but
with 39 other oil, gas and coal developments, which would amount
to three times the UK’s current annual climate emissions.
I do not want to hear an answer that is about all the things the
Prime Minister thinks he is doing on cars and cash and trees. I
want him to tell the House whether he will leave those fossil
fuels in the ground. Will he cancel those projects, and does he
recognise that if he does not, he will need to ask forgiveness
not just for losing his place in a speech, but for losing the
future of our children?
The Prime Minister
Not only are we powering past coal towards the ending of fossil
fuel reliance in our energy generation by 2024, which is
absolutely stunning, and we are ahead of countries throughout the
world—I am glad the hon. Lady is praising me for that, although,
as she knows, the Cambo oilfield is a
matter for study by an independent regulator—but what we have
also done, and led the world in doing, is stop the financing of
overseas hydrocarbons. That is a fantastic thing, which the whole
world followed.
