Speeches by White.

“If in a year’s time public attitudes are getting worse? I hope to goodness, I am not coming back with that. We are acting now. We are not waiting for that attitudes tracker to worsen. Things are changing constantly. The thing I have been really struck by is the amount of opportunities and positive stories that are out …”

“Ryan, you go with Secretary of State to the mayoral group, don’t you? We already have a local net zero delivery group that works with representatives not only of the LGA, but of councils across the country and of UK100 to look at actually what is happening. We are working through that as a delivery body, but we also ha…”

“That is an excellent question. My understanding is that, actually, in some areas—certainly in Hull—the experience has been slightly different. While some of the names might have been removed, some of the actions and support have continued. In the real world, is it taking climate change off the agenda? This is good for …”

“That is an excellent question—absolutely. As the Chairman said, we can hold two views that might almost appear to be conflicting. We know that when local infrastructure is proposed, support can drop for some of it. To go back to my answer about the community piece, that is an area that we have started work on, but we n…”

“The local power plan will come out imminently, so more will come on that. I am sure that when the Secretary of State appears, he can give you the detail on that, but it is imminent. On how that will work, in terms of local groups getting involved in energy, we have talked about having a direct community benefit. Ryan, …”

“We are a little hamstrung because the local power plan is coming out imminently. As I say, we recognise that we need to do more around community benefit. We have made it really clear that communities that host this infrastructure should directly benefit from it.”

“Just to add a couple of things on that, DEFRA is looking at the land use plan, which will look at making sure land is used most effectively. That will include a line with the energy spatial strategy at the same time to try to make sure we think more holistically around land use. That is exactly what we need to be doing…”

“We absolutely need to make sure that food security is a key part of this Government’s agenda. Clearly, that falls within DEFRA, but it is not an issue we are concerned about. In my communications, I did an interesting interview with Lord Deben, ex-chair of the Committee on Climate Change and also a farmer, who talked p…”

“What a brilliant question. We have not really touched on nuclear. We are very fortunate to have Patrick Vallance as our nuclear Minister, who is doing a fabulous job of championing nuclear. We have a renaissance in nuclear. We are pushing on different fronts to make sure that, as part of our clean energy mix and also a…”

“I will look forward to that. In terms of the skills, you raise a really good point. We all want to learn from what has happened in the past when we have had energy transitions. We all know that the scars of those transitions are still on many communities up and down our country. We want to learn and not have any of tho…”

“That is a really good challenge. I was using the North sea as an example of where there will be energy systems still being used. It is a different form of energy. In Aberdeen it is whether it is going from oil to offshore wind and you have those pontoons side by side at the same time. It is how we can make sure that th…”

“We are in a very active conversation at all times. We have a Government mission, but how to deliver that will be a co-creation to make sure we can do that. Ryan, I defer to you on whether there have been any practical differences, or whether it is a sentiment change, to the Chair’s point on ensuring consultation with l…”

“I think climate change and biodiversity loss are two sides of the same coin. Many people have said that before, but clearly there is a strong integration—there is a symbiotic relationship, in many ways, between those two things. When we came into Government, there was a complaint from stakeholders that we were not work…”

“Absolutely; but, as I say, I have already witnessed an improvement. That was under way before I joined the Department. There is definitely more to do, but I have already witnessed an improvement in us working collaboratively.”

“It is a really good point. You talk about electric vehicles: we are now in a system where, if you are on the right tariffs and with the right technology, you can take advantage of those opportunities. We are exploring at pace how we can bring those opportunities and advantages to as many people as possible.”

“There are different elements. One is digital accessibility with some people more able to use the interface. As you say, we should be making sure that we have the technology in homes, but also that they have the right infrastructure and equipment. There are multiple levels to how we do that. We are looking at how to do …”

“As it stands, we obviously focus on our three campaigns: electric vehicles—I am sure you have seen that, but thankfully they did not ask me to do it; I do not know whether you have seen the hair option, but it is quite extravagant, shall we say—heat pumps and energy efficiency. They are targeted on areas where we reall…”

“A lot of these are micro-targeted. We are looking at different demographics. When looking at energy efficiency saving up £150 off your bills, we are going for more vulnerable groups, older people, people with young families and people with disabilities. We are looking at where we need to target those most effectively. …”

“People either believe that Britain is important and has an impact in the world or they do not. I am in the former camp; I think that Britain has an impact in the world. The impact of our behaviour is far greater than the amount of our emissions. We sit on the UN Security Council. When we introduced the Climate Change A…”

“You make a really good point. One of the mistakes that has been made in the past is that there has been an assumption that almost people would start at low-level green action and then would work their way up. Most people are completely overwhelmed, have very limited time and want to know very quickly, “What is the one …”