Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Conclusion 6
Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector
Published 28 Apr 2023
Paragraph 40
Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Decarbonisation of the power sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Announcements by major oil and gas companies to prioritise share buybacks and dividends over investment in renewables, and to scale back on targets to reduce the impact of their operations on the climate in favour of extracting more fossil fuels, suggest that the industry has some way to go before it finds a good balance between prioritising profit and its responsibility to cut emissions. The investment relief included in the Energy Profits Levy means that taxpayers will effectively pay oil and gas companies to clean up their own operations. Taxpayer support for oil and gas companies should be contingent on these companies being transparent about their future investments in renewables and low-carbon technologies, and on evidence showing how their plans for decarbonisation are compliant with the country’s statutory carbon budgets and net zero target.
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector (HC 283), paragraph 40, 28 April 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 July 2023 (deadline 28 June 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 to each recommendation, planning annual reporting on power sector decarbonisation while setting out where it will not adopt specific proposals.
- On the call for a long-term delivery plan, the government "plans to report on its delivery, and overall plan to deliver the commitment, on an annual basis", and is strengthening its portfolio management approach.
- On a UK-wide onshore wind target, it states that setting one "would potentially undermine the flexibility needed" across the UK.
- On biomass, it has "no plans to remove support prior to 2027" for stations already supported, saying they "have a statutory right to their existing support".
- On Ofgem's duties, it is "content to amend" Ofgem's existing duty on greenhouse gases to refer specifically to the net zero targets in the Climate Change Act 2008.