That marks nearly 40 years of continuous leadership by two politicians. I am eternally grateful to the Chairman for taking me under his wing as a very young councillor in the great city of Manchester. Okay, I have embarrassed you enough, Mr Stringer.
The statutory instrument amends the renewable transport fuel obligations order 2007, as the Minister rightly said, and will help further to increase carbon savings by increasing renewable fuel targets and expanding the renewable transport fuel obligations to sectors with limited alternatives to decarbonise, such as maritime.
While we welcome the SI, it does not go far enough. We need to be doing much more radical things if we are to decarbonise the transport sector. The covid-19 pandemic has dominated headlines, but we cannot forget that we are still in a climate emergency and that green, efficient transport is the future. As transport is now the largest contributing sector to UK emissions, it is worth reinforcing the need to reinvest in our communities and offer true levelling up across the regions. We needed a radical plan to decarbonise and get polluting vehicles off our streets, but what did we get in the autumn spending review? A cut to air passenger duty for domestic flights, a devasting announcement on HS2 and the abandonment of most of Northern Powerhouse Rail. That will not take 1.5 million cars off our northern roads any time soon.
The UK hydrogen strategy, which the Minister mentioned, identifies transport as the key early market for hydrogen in the 2020s. While the new policy plans outline long-term frameworks for business models, these will not come into effect until 2024-25. The Government’s offering ranges from absolutely zero to nowhere near enough, and every shade of not much in between. The Government’s unambitious approach to something that we all know and agree is vital to our future should be a major concern for us all.
Internationally, Governments are investing billions in alternative fuel markets. For example, Germany has invested €9 billion in its hydrogen markets and France has invested €7 billion, whereas our Government are under-investing and hoping to stimulate private investment through smaller targeted funds. If the UK were to invest properly in research, technology and infrastructure, we could truly become world-leading in this technology. For instance, Hamburg port alone is investing £100 million in decarbonising itself. The Government here have announced a fund for £20 million for the whole country for a competition. It really is not good enough.