Speeches by McCarthy.

“The hon. Lady raises important concerns that we are very much alive to. As I said in my first answer, energy security is critical to the Department’s work and that is why we have the clean power mission to end our dependency on fossil fuels. International investment is a crucial part of that and helps to support growth…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for bringing the urgent question to the House. The protection and security of the energy sector is an absolute priority for this Government. We have a range of effective measures in place that give the Government powers to balance an open investment environment to facilitate growth with protecting…”

“Last week, the UK formally submitted its NDC to the United Nations framework convention on climate change. It is a world-leading, ambitious target that we hope will demonstrate ambition to other countries. In that NDC, we have a youth clause for the first time, and I am very keen to talk to Members across the House abo…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025. It is, as always, a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Harris. The draft order was laid before Parliament on 3 December 2024. I will set out some of the background. The UK emissions trading sche…”

“I suppose I should welcome the shadow Minister to his place, but it is a bit depressing to hear him outline the Opposition’s position. In the last year or two that the Conservatives were in government, we saw them U-turn and row back on getting to net zero. We recognise that it is an integral part of our growth and ind…”

“I am aware of the excellent work being carried out at Lochwinnoch. We know that protecting and restoring our peatlands is essential for tackling the climate crisis. We are committed to restoring approximately 280,000 hectares of peatland. We are also looking at innovative ways of getting funding into those nature-based…”

“We are not convinced that the Bill is necessary as a well-developed legislative framework with legally binding targets is already in place, including, of course, the Climate Change Act 2008 and the carbon budgets. However, I appreciate the action on both climate and nature and the hon. Member’s commitment to both. I be…”

“We know that nature-based solutions have a key role to play in climate mitigation and keeping to 1.5°C at home and abroad. I have met the Minister for Nature, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry East (Mary Creagh), and the Government have appointed two special representatives for climate and for nature, who will be …”

“Okay. I come on to the issue of battery safety. I note that the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent said that members were given some reassurance at the community meeting she held but still have significant concerns about fire safety. As she knows, batteries are regulated by the Health and Safety Executive. The fram…”

“It is always a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately) on securing the debate and giving us a chance to discuss an important topic, not just for her constituents. I hope she will understand, however, that due to the quasi-judicial ro…”

“I am glad the shadow Minister agrees on that. He asked a specific question about the pricing. As the market conveners, we cannot comment on the price. I will leave it at that, other than to say that the market determines the price of the allowances, and opting for the top of the net zero-consistent range means that mor…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2024. As always, it is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Roger. The draft order was laid before Parliament on 22 October 2024. To give a bit of background, the UK emissions trading scheme w…”

“I thank the shadow Minister for his contribution. As I said, the UK emissions trading scheme is a key pillar of the UK’s net zero policy regime. I am slightly surprised by his decision not to support the SI —perhaps not from a political point of view, but because I am pretty sure that if he was still in the Department …”

“On the second point first, at this COP we want to ensure that we fully operationalise the loss and damage fund, so we then start getting money into it and channelling money to developing countries. We also want to do that through the new collective quantified goal, which we hope will be ambitious and multi-layered. On …”

“I understand that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Minister has raised the case with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister and urged allowing Dr Ibadoghlu to travel overseas for specialist medical care if required. We will continue to use our diplomatic channels to raise our concerns about the protection of freedom…”

“We hope that, at COP29 in the coming weeks, we can settle on a figure for a new ambitious goal, which will not just bring in finance from donor countries, but mobilise private sector finance. We will use all the mechanisms we can to ensure that we get money to developing countries as quickly as possible. As my hon. Fri…”

“I would be more than happy to meet with my hon. Friend and her constituent, who sounds rather familiar, to discuss what more we can do to support climate education among children, including in our schools.”

“As I mentioned, I am very much looking forward to visiting West Burton soon. The Budget announced significant support for fusion energy in 2025-26 and, yes, we remain as ambitious as the previous Government for the potential of fusion energy.”

“My hon. Friend is a great champion for her constituency, and I was pleased to meet her to talk about this issue and to hear her Westminster Hall debate. I look forward to visiting her constituency later this month to see the fusion café and to visit West Burton, the site of the STEP project, after which I hope to be ab…”

“We agree that fusion could be a globally transformative green energy solution. The UK Government’s fusion programme continues to lead the world in the development of fusion energy, and our ambition is to continue to do so.”