Lords debates impact of climate policies
25 October 2024
On Thursday 24 October, members of the House of Lords debated the impact of the government's climate policies on jobs, growth and prosperity.
Debate
Lord Lilley (Conservative), former financial secretary to the Treasury, put forward the debate.
This was a general debate. During debates, members put their experience to good use to discuss current issues and draw the government's attention to concerns.
Members speaking
Contributing members included:
- Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green), former Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
- Lord Browne of Madingley (Crossbench), chair of the advisory board for the Energy Futures Initiative
- Lord Deben (Conservative), former Chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC)
- Baroness May of Maidenhead (Conservative), former prime minister.
Opening the debate, Lord Lilley said:
'Costs were never discussed during the passage of the Climate Change Act in 2008, nor during the 90 minute debate committing us to net zero in 2019. It is extraordinary that we still have no official cost-benefit analysis of net zero, five years after embarking on the project.'
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle said:
'We are a society in poor and declining health, and what [Lord Lilley] identified as ‘cheap energy’ is a significant contributor to that ill health.
'We are not a prosperous society, we are an ill society, and the burning of fossil fuels is a significant contributor to that. Climate action is also action to improve health in our society.'
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour), Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, responded on behalf of the government:
'The central argument is that investing in clean energy at speed and scale can help tackle the climate crisis. We can create good-quality jobs, drive investment, protect bill payers in the long term and, crucially, ensure energy security.'
Catch up
Watch and read the debate
Watch the debate on Parliament TV or read the Lords Hansard transcript.
Explore background information
Find out more about the issues the debate covers in the House of Lords Library briefing.
Learn more about how the House of Lords checks and challenges government.
Photo credit: Pixabay
