Skip to main content

Renewable Energy

Question for Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

UIN 172517, tabled on 23 March 2023

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change entitled Sixth Assessment Report, published on 20 March 2023; and whether his Department plans to take further steps to (a) reduce fossil fuel use in the energy system and (b) transition to a renewable energy system.

Answered on

30 March 2023

The Government is committed to reaching net zero by 2050, in line with advice from the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee, and consistent with findings from the IPCC’s Synthesis Report[1].

The Government outlined its plans to reach net zero and nearer term targets in the Net Zero Strategy, published October 2021, and the British Energy Security Strategy, published April 2022.

The Government is committed to decarbonising the UK’s electricity system by 2035, subject to security of supply. While oil and gas remain an essential resource, around 40% of UK electricity now comes from renewable generation, up from 7% in 2010.

[1] https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6syr/pdf/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf