Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the proportion of existing fossil fuel reserves that are (a) unburnable under a scenario of keeping temperature increases to below two degrees C and (b) unburnable; and what her policy is on the proportion of primary energy supply (i) in the UK, (ii) globally that should come from oil and gas in (A) 2030 and (B) 2050; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

The International Energy Agency has suggested that around a third of global fossil fuel reserves are burnable under a 2°C scenario.

In the UK, we are committed to implementing the Wood Review recommendations to maximise economic recovery of oil and gas in a way that is compatible with our climate change targets. Maximising recovery both in terms of increasing efficiency of production, as well as increasing levels of production of the UK’s oil and gas, will help maintain security of supply as well as boost growth and jobs.

This Government remains committed to the Climate Change Act and to meeting our climate change target of an 80% emissions reduction by 2050. This will mean reducing the amount of fossil fuels we use – through improved energy efficiency and increased supplies of low carbon energy – as well as reducing other sources of emissions. As part of our efforts to reduce emissions I have already announced that the Government will consult on proposals to end coal power generation by 2025 and restrict its use from 2023.