BEIS committee chair Darren Jones backs 2030 emissions reduction target

The new chair of the business, energy and industrial strategy Commons committee Darren Jones backed the 2030 emissions reduction target in a recent interview with LabourList‘s editor.

In a conversation organised by the party-affiliated membership group Labour Business, the Labour MP said: “I support the manifesto commitment on getting there by 2030.

“I think in the time we need to show international leaderhsip because we are hosting COP26, we need to be able to try to show the world when we’re asking them to do these things that we’re doing them ourselves.

“But my only caveat is that I’m not particularly interested in having big debates over whether it should be 2030 or 2031 or… April 2032.

“What I am interested in is what are the policy answers, what are the changes we need to see in the economy to actually be able to decarbonise.”

The 2030 target has attracted political controversy including within Labour, but Labour’s business spokesperson Ed Miliband recently voiced his continued support for the aim.

Jones, elected as the new chair of the House of Commons BEIS select committee in May, also expressed support for making bailouts – particularly in the aviation sector – conditional on environmental commitments.

The interview, which took place on July 2nd, is now available to watch in full. It covers a green recovery, the impact of coronavirus on business and workers, plus specific policies such as Labour’s free broadband for all pledge.

The conversation is followed by a Q&A session with members of Labour Business, who ask about Labour’s approach to the business community and Jones’ specific positions on a range of issues related to business.