Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the progress of UK firms in reducing their contribution to climate change.
Andrea Leadsom
Since 2003, the UK has had the least energy intensive economy in the G7. In its recent progress report, the Committee on Climate Change set out provisional figures for 2014 [1] which indicate that industrial output grew while energy consumption and emissions fell. The Government response [2] to the CCC report provides further assessment of progress towards reducing emissions from all sectors, including business.
However, there is still significant untapped energy efficiency potential in the business sector, estimated at 45TWh in 2020, representing around 10% of current business energy use. On 28 September Government launched a consultation reviewing the business energy tax landscape that will seek to better exploit this potential, reducing energy costs and improving productivity, while minimising administrative burdens. For energy intensive industry, following publication of the 2050 Industrial Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency Roadmaps in March, the Government is working with sectors to develop action plans to enable industry to contribute to our decarbonisation targets while remaining competitive in the international marketplace.
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