Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Deferred
Condition taxpayer support for oil and gas on transparent renewables investment and carbon budget compliance.
Conclusion
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. (Paragraph 40) Retaining investment in low-carbon energy
Government Response Summary
The government's response discusses a consultation on community benefits for network infrastructure, coordination with The Crown Estate on transmission links, and tracking offshore wind capacity, but does not address making taxpayer support for oil and gas companies contingent on their transparency or decarbonisation plans.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
20. The UK has a world-leading ambition to deploy up to 50GW of offshore wind power by 2030, with up to 5GW coming from floating offshore wind. Although the UK is a world leader in offshore wind, with the most installed capacity in Europe, the Government recognises there are still opportunities for accelerating the deployment of offshore wind in the context of the UK’s increased ambitions. The Offshore Wind Industry Council, chaired jointly by industry and the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, will bring together key stakeholders to support the continued development of the UK’s world- leading offshore wind sector. Work is already underway across government and industry to implement many of the UK Offshore Wind Champion’s key recommendations, and we will collaborate with a range of stakeholders to consider all of the recommendations in the report. 21. The Government is consulting on community benefits for network infrastructure, to ensure communities hosting transmission network infrastructure can benefit from supporting the delivery of cheaper, secure and low-carbon energy for all of Great Britain. The consultation, with a close date of 15th June 2023, proposes to introduce voluntary guidance on the appropriate levels and forms of benefits to give communities the knowledge, power and flexibility to decide what benefits they want in consultation with the project developer. Decarbonisation of the power sector: Government Response 5 22. The Government will work with The Crown Estate to look at how better co-ordination of transmission links can be incorporated at the early stages of designing future seabed leasing rounds. This will join up with the wider, ongoing work on improving transmission co-ordination and marine spatial prioritisation. 23. Energy Trends is a quarterly statistical release that provides the official statistics for installed offshore wind capacity in the UK, split between fixed and floating offshore wind. The Government uses this to assess our current position compared to our 2030 ambitions.