Here's my opening speech at the 22/07/21 Westminster Hall debate on the UK's presidency of the the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
This is the UK's chance to take bold leadership as global leaders in decarbonising our economy and creating a safer, cleaner future.
I know the UK will lead by example and can be rightly proud of what we have achieved so far. Our emissions have nearly halved since 1990 whilst growing the economy is 75% larger. We were the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050, we have world-leading plans to cut emissions by 68% by 2030 and 78% by 2035. We have announced the almost total removal of coal for power generation and boast a raft of exciting policies in the Government’s Ten Point Plan to for green growth.
However – we cannot rest on our laurels.
What we have done has allowed us to keep pace with the seriousness of events, but we will have to continue to stretch ourselves if we are to get ahead of the problem and deliver net zero by mid-century.
In terms of decarbonisation, much the trickier half of the battle is still to come.
