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1643 6 JUNE 2013<br />
1644<br />
House of Commons<br />
Thursday 6 June 2013<br />
The House met at half-past Nine o’clock<br />
PRAYERS<br />
[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]<br />
Oral Answers to Questions<br />
ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE<br />
The Secretary of State was asked—<br />
Per Capita Carbon Emissions<br />
1. David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): What<br />
recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in<br />
Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland regarding the<br />
level of per capita carbon emissions and the future<br />
policy of those countries. [158073]<br />
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change<br />
(Mr Edward Davey): I frequently have talks with my<br />
German, Dutch and Irish counterparts. In April, for<br />
example, I attended informal energy and environment<br />
councils in Dublin, w<strong>here</strong> discussions with other member<br />
states, including Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland,<br />
focused on the EU 2030 climate and energy framework.<br />
David Mowat: The March European Environment<br />
Agency report confirmed that the UK’s per capita<br />
emissions are among the lowest in Europe, and in 2011<br />
they fell at double the rate of those of the rest of the<br />
EU. Furthermore, the recent emissions trading scheme<br />
vote by the European <strong>Parliament</strong> means the UK has a<br />
carbon price six times higher than the rest of the EU,<br />
and now we are seeing several countries moving ahead<br />
to build coal stations that will not use carbon capture<br />
and storage. Is t<strong>here</strong> a risk that we are increasingly<br />
acting unilaterally in this area?<br />
Mr Davey: Let me reassure my hon. Friend. We work<br />
very closely with our European colleagues, and I formed<br />
the green growth group, currently working with about<br />
nine other member states, including our German and<br />
Dutch colleagues. We need to reform the ETS to make<br />
sure we have a functioning and effective carbon market<br />
in Europe, and we also need an ambitious 2030 target<br />
for greenhouse gas emissions. The UK Government<br />
have agreed that we will seek a 50% target in the context<br />
of winning a global climate change treaty.<br />
Mr Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con):<br />
What is the point of us closing coal-fired power stations<br />
if Germany is opening 20 of them? What is the point of<br />
us having a carbon tax and reducing emissions if we<br />
t<strong>here</strong>by release trading permits for other countries in<br />
Europe to emit more carbon?<br />
Mr Davey: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for<br />
his question. He is not right about the German position,<br />
and I refer him to the April 2013 report by Pöyry, which<br />
we commissioned and which is on our website. It examines<br />
the reality of what is happening with new coal-fired<br />
power stations in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.<br />
Some 10 new coal and lignite coal projects are under<br />
construction in Germany, because the final investment<br />
decisions on them were taken in 2005 and 2008, when<br />
t<strong>here</strong> was a very different policy environment, but four<br />
have been postponed and 22 have now been abandoned,<br />
so the situation in Germany is different from the one my<br />
right hon. Friend describes.<br />
Ian Swales (Redcar) (LD): Carbon emissions per<br />
capita statistics fail to recognise the effect of imports<br />
and exports on consumption. Will the Secretary of<br />
State confirm that he will not seek to meet UK targets<br />
through policies that close down our energy-intensive<br />
industries, t<strong>here</strong>by exporting jobs and importing carbon?<br />
Mr Davey: My hon. Friend is right. We do not want<br />
to see carbon leakage; that would not help the climate,<br />
and it would not help our economy. That is why I agreed<br />
with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for<br />
Business, Innovation and Skills a very generous package,<br />
working with the Chancellor, to compensate energyintensive<br />
industries for the indirect costs of the ETS<br />
and the carbon price floor, and it is also why we have<br />
exempted energy-intensive industries from the costs of<br />
contracts for difference. We want to ensure we make<br />
progress on climate change, but we also want to ensure<br />
we keep successful businesses in the <strong>United</strong> <strong>Kingdom</strong>.<br />
Energy Bills<br />
2. Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab):<br />
What steps he is taking to help households with their<br />
energy bills. [158075]<br />
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate<br />
Change (Gregory Barker): This coalition Government<br />
are determined to help hard-working families with the<br />
cost of living. We have a range of initiatives to help with<br />
energy bills. From the Prime Minister’s proposals to get<br />
consumers on to the cheapest energy tariffs to our<br />
flagship green deal, and from the warm home discount<br />
to our promotion of collective switching and building a<br />
more competitive energy market, this Government are<br />
putting the consumer first.<br />
Andrew Gwynne: The Minister must be aware that the<br />
respected think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research<br />
has produced a report that shows that if the energy<br />
market were more competitive, bills could be reduced<br />
by at least £70 from efficiency savings alone, so why will<br />
he not get behind Labour’s plans to break the dominance<br />
of the big six by ensuring that they supply energy into a<br />
pool to enable more businesses to access the market and<br />
to bring down bills for customers?<br />
Gregory Barker: The hon. Gentleman will forgive us<br />
if we do not take lessons on how to widen the big six<br />
from the party that created the big six. When Labour