Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee

Recommendation 35

4th Report - Accelerating the transition from fossil fuels and securing energy supplies Published 5 Jan 2023 Paragraph 201

Environmental Audit Committee Accelerating the transition from fossil fuels and securing energy supplies All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Recommendation (the committee's words)

To date the NSTA has not published the names of those operators lagging behind in reducing their production emissions. This prevents investors, shareholders and other interested parties from being able to appraise the performance of individual companies against their net zero pledges. The NSTA has indicated to us that it would potentially be prepared to use its ‘soft power’ to influence operators by publishing details of the performance of individual operators or companies. We recommend that the North Sea Transition Authority publish an annual league table in its Emissions Monitoring Report detailing the performance on emissions reduction of individual operators and companies. The Government should signal its support for such an approach, which would encourage action by operators to reduce their upstream emissions.

From: Environmental Audit Committee, 4th Report - Accelerating the transition from fossil fuels and securing energy supplies (HC 109), paragraph 201, 5 January 2023

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 23 March 2023 (deadline 5 March 2023).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's report and responds mainly by pointing to existing schemes, targets and planned consultations, while declining several recommendations, including a tax allowance for renewable generators and ringfencing Energy Profits Levy revenue for energy efficiency.

On renewable generators' tax relief, it states it "does not accept this recomsmendation" [sic], citing support through Contracts for Difference. On the Energy Profits Levy, it has "considerable fiscal sustainability concerns" about hypothecating revenue for energy efficiency.
On green mortgages, it agrees lenders have "an important role to play" but will publish a response only once policy is "resolved", giving no date. It intends to consult on Energy Performance Certificate and wider buildings framework reforms in 2023.
On the North Sea, it considers the Transition Deal targets "sufficiently ambitious" and says it does "not propose reopening this deal for negotiation", though it will monitor progress closely, including whether "further steps may be necessary".
On energy efficiency funding, it points to £6.6 billion this Parliament and £6 billion of new funding "from 2025 to 2028". It intends to launch ECO+ in spring 2023, "proposed to be worth £1 billion over three years".

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