Quite right, Sir. It has been over three decades since Ynys Môn elected a Conservative Member of Parliament and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn over the coming years to ensure that this Government deliver for the people of her constituency and across the entire region of north Wales.
I am pleased that my hon. Friend has raised the important issue of nuclear energy, and I am eager to speak to her and the House this evening about the huge number of benefits that the UK expects to receive as a result of the Government’s commitment to the sector. I am grateful to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey), for her presence. She, too, takes an eager interest in nuclear power, not only because of her constituency and her constituents’ needs, but for the wellbeing of the energy sector nationally.
New nuclear is likely to have a significant role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. In September 2016, we gave the go-ahead to the first new nuclear power station in a generation, at Hinkley Point C; and in June 2018 we committed £200 million through our landmark nuclear sector deal, which includes millions of pounds for advanced nuclear technologies. The Government understand the important role that nuclear plays, and will continue to play, in our economy. That role includes ensuring that local and national benefits are realised, whether through increased employment opportunities or improvements in skills.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn reminded us, on 27 June 2019 the UK Government set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the whole UK economy by 2050. We were the first major economy in the world—followed by France and the rest of the EU—to legislate for net zero, and we want to deliver our commitments in a way that maximises the economic benefits of the transition to net zero. Between 1990 and 2017, we reduced emissions by more than 40% while at the same time growing our economy by more than two thirds, decarbonising our economy faster than any other G20 country. The net zero target requires us to build on that progress by transforming the whole of our economy and, of course, changing the culture in our society—our homes, our transport, our businesses and how we generate and use energy.