Our climate change record is strong, minister says

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has defended the government's environmental record following criticism from the outgoing boss of the climate watchdog.

Ms Coutinho said the government had a "very strong track record of delivery".

However, she also said it did not want to "heap costs on families" in its pursuit of net zero targets.

The UK is committed by law to ensuring that by 2050 its emissions will be net zero - meaning the country will no longer be adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases - such as carbon dioxide and methane - in the atmosphere.

Last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a major shift in the government's approach - including delaying a ban on new petrol and diesel cars and weakening targets on phasing out gas boilers.

Labour in February rowed back an earlier commitment on environmental project spending but says the party still has "incredibly ambitious plans".

The Climate Change Committee provides independent advice to ministers and monitors its progress on targets.

Mr Stark, who is due to stand down from the body, told the BBC the "diplomatic impact" of Mr Sunak's announcement had been "immense".

"The overall message was that the UK is less ambitious than it once was."

Asked about his comments, Ms Coutinho said the UK was the first country of all major economies to halve its emissions since 1990.

She said that since coming into her role in 2023, she had made changes to the tax system to boost investment in the energy sector.

However, she also argued that the government would take "a sensible and pragmatic" approach to achieving net zero.

She said she did not want to "heap costs on families" particularly when "other countries are polluting a lot more".

In his interview, Mr Stark also urged Labour to be more "bold" on climate change, saying that, compared to his shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband, the party leader Sir Keir Starmer "doesn't talk about it quite so much".

Earlier this year, Labour announced it would be ditching its policy of spending £28bn a year on its green investment plan, but still wanted to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

Appearing on the same programme, shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said her party had had to "scale back" its plans, blaming the "likely economic inheritance" from the Conservatives.

However, she insisted that had not stopped Labour from having "incredibly ambitious plans" including its 2030 target.

She acknowledged that, under a Labour government, there would still be a "strategic gas reserve for when the win and sun are not available".