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To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to develop opportunities for geothermal energy generation to help address climate change.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to develop opportunities for geothermal energy generation to help address climate change.
Opportunities for geothermal electricity generation in the UK are limited and only likely to be economically feasible in certain locations, such as the far South West of England. The Government is supporting the development of the United Downs Deep Geothermal Project in Cornwall.
The most promising use of geothermal energy in the UK is for low temperature applications such as district heating schemes. BEIS has been providing support to the deployment of district heat networks from geothermal through the Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) and the Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP). We also announced a further £270m from 2022 to 2025 in the Green Heat Network Fund at the March budget and we will be consulting on eligibility criteria in due course.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which existing nuclear waste facilities are foolproof against (1) all possible types of security threat from land, sea and air, and (2) the consequences of climate change.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which existing nuclear waste facilities are foolproof against (1) all possible types of security threat from land, sea and air, and (2) the consequences of climate change.
All nuclear sites, including nuclear waste facilities, are required to develop and maintain a site security plan in order to be licensed to operate by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. These site security plans are required to demonstrate compliance against the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003, which includes having to plan for managing all types of potential security threats. Implementation of the plans is also overseen by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
Flooding and climate change considerations are a major element of the Safety Case that must be developed and maintained for every nuclear facility as part of the licence conditions against which sites must operate. These Safety Cases are also assessed and approved by the by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. In addition, operators of nuclear waste disposal facilities must produce Environmental Safety Cases which demonstrate the safety of disposals of nuclear waste, now and in the future, managed within assessed risk scenarios consistent with regulatory guidance. These risk scenarios include the potential consequences of climate change. It is the Environmental Safety Case that determines if disposals may continue or not and what limitations or conditions may be required to minimise any impact to the environment.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of climate change for (1) the climate and geology of West Cumbria, and (2) future nuclear developments in the country.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of climate change for (1) the climate and geology of West Cumbria, and (2) future nuclear developments in the country.
The energy National Policy Statements published in 2011 set out the considerations that should be taken into account by developers and the Planning Inspectorate to help ensure proposed new energy infrastructure, including new nuclear power stations, is resilient to climate change. The Nuclear National Policy Statement also explains that the independent nuclear regulators will ensure new nuclear power stations, including the one proposed for Moorside, will be located, constructed, operated and decommissioned with the long-term impacts of climate change in mind.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what strategic estimates they are making of the likely growth in the number of political refugees, economic migrants and those displaced by conflict and climate change in the next five, 10, 20 and 50 years; and what plans they have to respond effectively to the...
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what strategic estimates they are making of the likely growth in the number of political refugees, economic migrants and those displaced by conflict and climate change in the next five, 10, 20 and 50 years; and what plans they have to respond effectively to the...
The British Government conducts periodic strategic reviews of countries and thematic issues that affect UK interests and how we respond to them. Some of these global issues will generate medium and long term migrant flows, within and between regions around the World. These trends are extremely unpredictable and therefore difficult to forecast. The size and composition of migrant flows can also vary dramatically over time, given the large range of factors driving migration.
We do, however, seek to identify and address the root causes. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s long term security and prosperity agendas aim to help create the right conditions for growth, security and stability, and the Department for International Development’s developmental and humanitarian assistance help provide the stable conditions that allow people to remain in their homelands.
Furthermore, we have established a new, more strategic approach to work in conflict-affected states where the UK has key interests, with a £1 billion Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. It will help ensure our work in fragile or conflict-affected states supports the full range of UK objectives.
Would the Minister agree with the estimate that to avoid catastrophic consequences global warming must be contained to 2%? Would she also agree that as things stand, the world is on track for 3% to 5%? Is it not therefore absolutely essential that the Government stand firmly by their 50% carbon reduction target and do not in any way back-track? Is it not essential that they use this commitment within the European Union to persuade the Union to move beyond its totally inadequate target of 40%? Would she also agree that at the UN climate summit in September this year, we should use that commitment to galvanise the action necessary for a successful agreement at the world leaders’ summit next year?
Would the Minister agree with the estimate that to avoid catastrophic consequences global warming must be contained to 2%? Would she also agree that as things stand, the world is on track for 3% to 5%? Is it not therefore absolutely essential that the Government stand firmly by their 50% carbon reduction target and do not in any way back-track? Is it not essential that they use this commitment within the European Union to persuade the Union to move beyond its totally inadequate target of 40%? Would she also agree that at the UN climate summit in September this year, we should use that commitment to galvanise the action necessary for a successful agreement at the world leaders’ summit next year?
The noble Lord is of course right that we need to have ambitious but cost-effective targets. We need the European Commission’s 2030 framework to be urgently agreed, which will adopt the 40% that the noble Lord mentioned. However, we have a more ambitious target to work towards—50%—in the context of an ambitious global agreement. That is what the United Kingdom is working hard to get.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to strengthen global co-operation in order to meet the challenges of climate change and to ensure that the United Kingdom is an example of effective support for environmental protection and emission reduction.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to strengthen global co-operation in order to meet the challenges of climate change and to ensure that the United Kingdom is an example of effective support for environmental protection and emission reduction.
My Lords, the Government work through multilateral organisations such as the UN, the G20 and the G7, among others, to encourage greater co-operation in tackling climate change, including through the UNFCCC,
where we are seeking to agree in 2015 a new international and legally binding rule-based agreement to limit global emissions post-2020. The last UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Warsaw at the end of 2013 saw all nations agreeing to start or intensify domestic preparations for a global climate change deal in 2015 and to work on a programme and timetable for this progress.
While I thank the Minister for those observations about resilience, does she agree that the estimate is that over the next 20 years a further 250,000 homes will be at risk and that the cost of the damage is likely to be in excess of £3 billion? Can she assure us that the Government are galvanising action without delay and with all due priority to ensure that the programme is sufficient for the resilience necessary? Furthermore, does she agree that because of the threats within the United Kingdom coupled with the threats across the world—disease, hunger, migration and acute instability—there can be no further delay in galvanising the international community into making this absolutely central to all political activity?
While I thank the Minister for those observations about resilience, does she agree that the estimate is that over the next 20 years a further 250,000 homes will be at risk and that the cost of the damage is likely to be in excess of £3 billion? Can she assure us that the Government are galvanising action without delay and with all due priority to ensure that the programme is sufficient for the resilience necessary? Furthermore, does she agree that because of the threats within the United Kingdom coupled with the threats across the world—disease, hunger, migration and acute instability—there can be no further delay in galvanising the international community into making this absolutely central to all political activity?
The noble Lord is of course right. My right honourable friend the Minister Greg Barker is currently in New York, ensuring that negotiations at an international level are very much focused on going forward for 2015 and the sort of commitments that we want from the international community. Closer to home, the noble Lord is of course aware that we have invested over the course of this Parliament over £3 billion in trying to respond to issues such as floods. We are now protecting 20,000 more houses over the 165,000 houses that were already protected, through the measures that we have taken.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the effects of climate change on the frequency of extreme weather events in the United Kingdom; and what action they propose to take as a result.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the effects of climate change on the frequency of extreme weather events in the United Kingdom; and what action they propose to take as a result.
My Lords, summer heat waves and heavy rainfall events are expected to become more frequent in future. The Government are taking action through the national adaptation plan to develop UK climate resilience, through the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Energy Act 2013 to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, and through international negotiations to mitigate climate change by reducing global emissions.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of climate change for the safety of all nuclear installations and of both existing and future nuclear waste facilities in the United Kingdom; and what action they are now taking to deal with any identified risks.[HL5785]
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of climate change for the safety of all nuclear installations and of both existing and future nuclear waste facilities in the United Kingdom; and what action they are now taking to deal with any identified risks.[HL5785]
A Nuclear Sector Resilience Plan is produced by my Department annually assessing vulnerabilities to which the nuclear sector may be exposed and how Government will work with partners in industry and at the local level to ensure the UK's nuclear installations remain safe and secure.
Under the nuclear licensing regime, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) requires licensees of existing nuclear facilities, or applicants for new facilities, to evaluate risks from all external hazards, including those that may be affected by climate conditions. ONR also requires licensees to review regularly their safety cases to ensure that licensees continue to mitigate the risks and, where necessary, take action to maintain those risks at a level which is as low as reasonably practicable. ONR will not permit nuclear plant to be operated unless its ability to withstand extreme weather conditions has been robustly established.
The safety of all UK nuclear installations was recently reviewed following the nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japan. More information about this review can be found on the website for the Health and Safety Executive:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/fukushima/final-report.htm
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking bilaterally and multilaterally within their overseas aid programme to assist smallholders and farmers in the developing world to deal with the consequences of climate change.[HL4431]
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking bilaterally and multilaterally within their overseas aid programme to assist smallholders and farmers in the developing world to deal with the consequences of climate change.[HL4431]
The Government support smallholder agriculture through bilateral programmes with a range of implementing partners building resilience to the consequences of climate change, including extreme weather events. In Kenya, the Department for International Development is helping strengthen the support mechanisms for smallholders in Kenya's dry-lands to cope with the impact of climate change. UK Government funding for the development of flood resistant scuba rice in south Asia will benefit up to 18 million farmers across the region, helping to protect their livelihoods against flooding in the monsoon season.
Multilaterally we support many programmes to assist smallholder farmers to deal with the consequences of climate change. For example, through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, the UK is helping up to 6 million smallholder farmers adapt to climate change. The Climate Resilient Agriculture in Africa Programme supports better policy and evidence around climate-smart agriculture and the Clima, Agricultura e Alimentos (Climate, Agriculture and Food) Programme shares tools and approaches to climate-smart agriculture and food security between Brazil and Africa. The Government also fund the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security project of CGIAR to work with farmers and policy-makers affected by climate change, by addressing the most important interactions and trade-offs between climate change and agriculture.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the effect of climate change on small-scale farming in the developing world and its implications for world food supply.[HL4205]
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the effect of climate change on small-scale farming in the developing world and its implications for world food supply.[HL4205]
Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate change. They often inhabit marginal landscapes such as hillsides, arid lands and floodplains. They rely directly on climate-affected natural resources for their livelihoods. They have fewer assets to rely on, are less able to diversify their incomes and are more reliant on growing food staples that may be most adversely affected by climate change such as maize, rice and wheat.
Climate modelling predictions are uncertain about future food production, given that some regions are likely to benefit while others are likely to be adversely affected and all projections are subject to significant uncertainty. Higher temperatures and changes in rainfall are predicted to reduce global harvests by 7% by 2050, and in some part of the world by as much as 20% by 2030.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what position they intend to adopt on a proposal to establish a green climate fund at the United Nations Climate summit in November 2011; and what steps they are taking to ensure (a) social justice in the operation of any such fund, (b) that the...
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what position they intend to adopt on a proposal to establish a green climate fund at the United Nations Climate summit in November 2011; and what steps they are taking to ensure (a) social justice in the operation of any such fund, (b) that the...
asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have prepared for the rehabilitation of peat bogs in the United Kingdom, as part of their strategy to combat global warming; and what priority they are giving to the implementation of such plans.
asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have prepared for the rehabilitation of peat bogs in the United Kingdom, as part of their strategy to combat global warming; and what priority they are giving to the implementation of such plans.
What action they are taking to ensure that aspirations of the Kyoto Protocol are achieved; and what action they are initiating to engage the international community in the reduction of global warming beyond 2012. [HL 1231]. - Inc figures.
What action they are taking to ensure that aspirations of the Kyoto Protocol are achieved; and what action they are initiating to engage the international community in the reduction of global warming beyond 2012. [HL 1231]. - Inc figures.
Lords debate on motion to call attention to the role of development aid in tackling world poverty and the part played by the United Kingdom's aid programme. Motion withdrawn.
Lords debate on motion to call attention to the role of development aid in tackling world poverty and the part played by the United Kingdom's aid programme. Motion withdrawn.
What recent studies they have made of the West Antarctic ice sheet and of the consequences of its collapse; and what were their conclusions on necessary international action to meet any such threat. [HL 2975]. - Inc figures.
What recent studies they have made of the West Antarctic ice sheet and of the consequences of its collapse; and what were their conclusions on necessary international action to meet any such threat. [HL 2975]. - Inc figures.