Queen’s Speech promises to prioritise green issues in Budget

The government has promised fresh investment in carbon capture and nuclear energy in its first post-election Budget next year, according to briefing notes accompanying today’s Queen’s Speech.

The statement, which sets out the re-elected government’s legislative and policy priorities for the upcoming session of parliament, states that the environment will be “prioritised” in the Budget.

This will include investment in carbon capture, offshore wind and nuclear energy, alongside the pledge to support electric vehicle infrastructure already outlined in the Conservative party manifesto.

The briefing document says clean energy will be one of the scientific research and development priorities of the government, which has already announced investment in a project to build the world’s first commercially-viable nuclear fusion power plant by 2040.

The Queens Speech also says the Budget will outline further details of the government’s plan to invest £100 billion in infrastructure. The National Infrastructure Strategy has been promised alongside the Budget in February with the aim of “levelling up and connecting every part of the country” as well as reducing carbon emissions

The government has further promised it will “continue to take steps” to meet the recently adopted target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

The speech also contains a pledge to reintroduce legislation to set up the new Office for Environmental Protection, which will have powers to take the government to court if it breaches environmental laws.

Other manifesto pledges confirmed in the Queen’s Speech include £800 million to build the world’s first carbon capture storage cluster and £9.2 billion worth of investment in improving the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals.

Responding to the details, Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the REA, said: “The importance of climate action within in this Parliament cannot be underestimated. With the world’s attention focused on the UK in 2020, as we host COP 26 in Glasgow, it is disappointing that the Queens Speech did not set out further ambitions around how we will decarbonise heat, transport and power. This government will need to act quickly in 2020 to ensure renewables and clean technologies are at the forefront of all future growth in the UK.”