This week the Prime Minister committed to hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licences, alongside development of two carbon capture clusters. An Energy Summit was held to discuss how £100bn of investor capital can be mobilised to develop UK energy security, including meeting our renewable energy targets. 

While I have called for the Government to set a date to end further exploration and development of fossil fuels in the North Sea, I want to set this latest decision in context. 

The Committee on Climate Change in the UK recognises there will continue to be a requirement for oil and gas for some industries, as well as some transport uses which will not be fully decarbonised, even after we achieve net zero by 2050. It is, after all, net zero carbon – not zero carbon.   

There are for example some 29million petrol or diesel fuelled vehicles on our roads. While electric vehicles are rapidly developing, there will be a continuing, though gradually declining, need for carbon based fuel for 15-20 years after all new cars become zero carbon. 

At the same time oil and gas production from the UK side of the North Sea is declining at around 8% a year. So the logic behind granting new licences during the transition to wholly renewable energy, is to enable the production profile to decline more gradually so that we can balance our energy security by enabling our reliance on imported additional oil and gas to be reduced. The actions of Putin show how risky it is to rely entirely on imports, or to rely on higher emission fossil fuels from less stable states.   

I remain committed to achieving net zero by 2050. So I also welcome the announcement of two new carbon capture storage clusters, helping us on the road to achieving net zero while creating 25,000 jobs as people transition roles using relevant skills honed in oil and gas production. 

This forms part of the commitment in the Spring Budget when the Chancellor confirmed £20bn to invest in several significant Carbon Capture and Storage capabilities over 20 years.  

In another significant step towards net zero of our transport system, excellent engagement by our government led Tata to announce last month one of the largest investments in the UK automotive sector with a new £4bn Gigafactory supplying Jaguar Land Rover's future models, all of which will be battery powered by 2030, with capacity to supply 50% of batteries required by UK vehicle manufacturers.  

So I do not accept the idea touted by some that preserving our environment can only come at the expense of economic growth, or indeed vice versa. The UK has decarbonised faster than any other country in the G7, cutting emissions by 48% between 1990 and 2021, while the economy grew by 65%. So I shall continue to bang the drum for net zero, and the economic growth that can accompany it.