Andrew Selous MP has become a green homes champion, a role designed by the Conservative Environment Network to help accelerate action on climate change in Parliament, as part of the Net Zero Champions initiative. Mr Selous will be working primarily to secure more green homes in the UK in addition to promoting a range of technological and natural solutions to climate change, to ensure that green jobs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions are at the centre of the nation’s Covid recovery.
Andrew Selous MP’s accession to the role follows years of work on promoting green homes alongside recognised British architect Bill Dunster OBE. Mr Selous brought Mr Dunster to Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable in July 2017 to explain to residents that zero energy bill homes are now possible and are not more expensive than conventional homes. He also periodically raises Mr Dunster’s work in Parliament and did so as recently as Monday 22nd February to the Minister for Housing.
The creation of the role also comes at a significant time. After initial optimism about the UK’s decarbonisation programme, when the UK government were the first government to announce their commitment to a net zero carbon economy by 2050, several questions have been raised by the likes of the independent Climate Change Committee, who located multiple policy gaps remaining to get the UK on track to reach the target. Andrew Selous MP, along with the other Net Zero Champions, will therefore be campaigning for policies to close those gaps ahead of COP26 UN Climate Summit, which the UK is hosting in Glasgow in November.
As a green homes champion, Andrew Selous MP will be campaigning on:
- providing a longer-term funding commitment for energy efficiency beyond the Green Homes Grant, to help meet the government’s commitment for as many homes as possible to be EPC band C by 2035, and reduce people’s energy bills
- bringing the Future Homes Standard forward to 2024, so that all new homes are as sustainable as possible, reducing the need for further retrofitting to meet our net zero emissions target
- enabling local authorities to develop local net zero energy plans to map out the best local solution for decarbonising heating and for developing renewable energy.
Andrew Selous MP said: “I’m delighted to be working on this great initiative, as part of my commitment to my constituents to champion action on climate change in Parliament. As the hosts of the Glasgow Climate Summit in November, the UK needs to be at the front of the pack globally in tackling carbon emissions. This Government has already taken some big steps forward on climate change, but we now must go even further to get on track to our world-leading target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That’s why I’ll be campaigning inside Parliament for further policies for green homes that will cut emissions, while also creating green jobs across the UK.
“Energy efficiency measures like insulation not only help lower our emissions and household bills by enabling us to use less energy, but they also provide many other benefits. This includes supporting skilled construction work as we recover from the pandemic and reducing the strain on the NHS by keeping people warmer in their own homes. We’re making great progress, for example with the Green Homes Grant scheme that offers people a discount on energy efficiency measures, and I’m looking forward to working with the other green homes champions to propose more ideas on how we can modernise our housing stock.”