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Torsten Bell's Climate-related Tweets, Speeches & Votes

We've found the following climate-related tweets, speeches & votes by Torsten Bell

• 29 Jun 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  My hon. Friend is a consistent campaigner on these issues in this place and in our regular meetings, and I always learn something from those conversations. I am not going forward with exactly the suggestion he brings forward, but I agree that there is more we can do, not least to provide clarity for trustees. We are working with industry to develop guidance clarifying that fiduciary duties allow trustees investing in members’ best interests to consider systemic risks, including climate change, and we will consult later this summer.

  Full debate: Topical Questions

• 18 Mar 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  Our position is to deliver a stable transition. That was the position of the Conservative party. It is the party that introduced the energy profits levy. [ Interruption. ] I will answer the question. Gas and energy from the North sea will be part of the energy transition in the UK for some decades to come, as several Members have mentioned. That is why the Chancellor met the industry in recent days, and why we are setting out proposals to allow tiebacks that will help us get gas out of the ground in the near future. Longer-term changes will take significantly longer, but none of what I have heard from Conservative Members is an excuse for rejecting the tens of billions of pounds of renewable energy investment that is important for delivering domestic energy security for this country.

  Full debate: Fuel Duty

  As I have said, oil and gas will be with us for some time. [ Interruption. ] Let me finish. That is why the Chancellor met the sector. [ Interruption. ] I hear all the chuntering from Opposition Members, but I did not hear as much chuntering when we saw a 70% fall in jobs in the North sea on their watch. [ Interruption. ] That is the truth of what you delivered. Now, on top of that, you are trying to double down. The Conservative party is doubling down on opposing investment in renewable energy, threatening those jobs. The Labour party believes in domestic energy security delivered by a range of sources, including the nuclear that the Conservatives failed to invest in.

  Full debate: Fuel Duty

  As the Chancellor said following her call with G7 Finance Ministers last week, we are supporting a co-ordinated release of oil reserves. That has helped to some degree to stabilise international oil markets. We have also asked the Competition and Markets Authority to remain vigilant on price developments for essentials such as road oil and heating oil. On Friday, the Chancellor and the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary met petrol retailers to make it clear that the Government will not tolerate anyone exploiting the current situation to make excess profits.

  Full debate: Fuel Duty

• 14 Jan 2026: Tweet

  There is huge potential for Wales to enter a new era of green energy jobs/investment. Whether we seize that opportunity rather than spending the years ahead mired in division (Reform) or constitutional rows (Plaid) is what the Senedd elections are actually about. [Source]

• 3 Dec 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  The hon. Members for Torbay (Steve Darling), for Horsham (John Milne) and for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) broadened this debate beyond the LGPS, not least on questions of climate change and the wider social impact of investments. The Department for Work and Pensions is currently conducting a review of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures requirements, and we have also asked the Pensions Regulator to assess the practicalities of transition plans for pension schemes. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we will also bring forward legislation to clarify that trustees can take systemic factors into account when making their investment decisions. I hope this provides hon. Members with significant reassurance on those points.

  Full debate: Pension Schemes Bill

• 19 Oct 2025: Tweet

  Wales green energy industry is growing fast. It can add 15,000 jobs over the next 5yrs - a huge boost for South Wales. But the jobs aren’t guaranteed: - Reform say they’ll scrap them - Plaid will in practice do the same. They object to any solar, pylons or wind farms being built https://x.com/TorstenBell/status/1979837566238306429/photo/1 [Source]

• 9 Sep 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  It is worth noting up front that amendment 211 replaces the penalty provisions in clause 47 with a new mechanism for introducing enforcement powers via regulations. The regulations could allow for the Pensions Regulator to issue compliance notices, third-party compliance notices and penalty notices. These types of enforcement notice are not unusual, and they appear in other pensions legislation, such as the pensions dashboard regulations and the regulations on climate change governance and reporting.

  Full debate: Pension Schemes Bill (Sixth sitting)

• 4 Sep 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I thank the hon. Member for Torbay for tabling the amendments. Clearly, addressing climate change is absolutely central to this Government’s agenda. It needs to be done in the right way. Pension funds hold significant capital, and I am pleased to say that at every conference and every session I hold with people involved in the industry I see that investors and pension schemes do now use their influence on companies to encourage them to take responsible action. That has been a big change over the course of the last decade. It can lead to better risk management and potentially also improve returns on investments, as well as helping companies to perform better in relation to environmental targets.

  My overall argument, though, is that trustees must already consider financially material risks, including ESG factors. The statement of investment principles and the implementation statement are key tools that are already in place for disclosing a scheme’s approach to ESG issues, including climate change. Ultimately, the amendment is about disclosures; that is what it aims to achieve. Additionally, large schemes with assets above £1 billion, which in future will be the majority of schemes because of the scale measures that we will come back to, must also report on climate-related risks and opportunities, in line with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.

  We are looking to strengthen sustainability reporting, exactly as the hon. Member for Torbay wishes to see, through new UK sustainability reporting standards and our transition plan’s commitment, which the Government consulted on this summer. Taken together, our policy initiatives will modernise the UK’s framework for corporate reporting, giving pension schemes vital information about companies’ decarbonisation plans and about whether to escalate their engagement efforts with investee companies on environmental issues. The DWP is contributing to that work and will review the effectiveness of climate reporting requirements later this year, as part of our post-implementation review of the requirements of the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures.

  Full debate: Pension Schemes Bill (Fourth sitting)

• 19 Jul 2025: Tweet

  @RichardALJones @wallaceme Quite - ditto for much of renewable energy/grid. [Source]

• 23 Jun 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  My hon. Friend has been a powerful campaigner on this issue for some years, and she will know that larger pension schemes are now required to publish annual reports with climate-related disclosures. The evidence shows that around two thirds of pension funds have a net zero commitment in place, and we will be reviewing those regulations over the course of this year.

  Full debate: Pensions Policy: Climate and Nature Targets

• 9 Jun 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  That is such an important point! One of the biggest mistakes that we made in previous decades was saying, “We will not see the benefits of work to improve the quality of the housing stock for years, so let us slash it.” That is exactly what happened in 2013, when there was a 90% cut in the level of insulations under the energy company obligation scheme, and we have paid the price for that ever since. This Government are not going to make the same mistake. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has been ramping up the warm homes programme, and we need to be out there insulating homes and improving lofts every day until Britain has a housing stock of which it can be proud.

  Full debate: Winter Fuel Payment

  I obviously thank my hon. Friend for his question, but I have to disagree. I do not deserve any credit for doubling eligibility for the warm home discount; the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Peckham (Miatta Fahnbulleh), who is here on the Government Front Bench, deserves it. On fuel poverty estimates, over 5 million households should benefit from the warm home discount next year. That will make a real difference to households right across the country.

  Full debate: Winter Fuel Payment

• 13 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I have benefited from conversations with my hon. Friend about this topic, given his previous experience. He is completely right to set out that one of the large reasons—although not the only one—why we need to move to being a higher investment country is that our energy infrastructure has to be upgraded, and fast, if we are going to give this country the energy security it needs. He mentioned solar. This Government signed off in a matter of days and weeks a string of solar farms that needed to be invested in and that had been sitting on Ministers’ desks for year after year. More broadly, when the Leader of the Opposition stands up and says, “We don’t want to see this progress on net zero,” what she is really doing is putting up a sign across Britain saying, “Closed for business.”

  Full debate: Mansion House Accord

• 4 Mar 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I have spent far too much of my life talking to the now Energy Secretary, but my hon. Friend is right to highlight the potential of green energy supply chains in her constituency and across the north-east. This is a Government committed to securing economic gains alongside energy security from the energy transition —in stark contrast to the previous Government, who thought the net zero transition was something on which to create dividing lines, not jobs.

  Full debate: Investment: Newcastle Upon Tyne East and Wallsend

• 3 Feb 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I have heard the hon. Gentleman’s comment and will raise it with the responsible Minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, but it is important that all pensioners who are entitled to support get it. That is what the Government are focused on.

  Full debate: Pension Credit Take-up

• 22 Jan 2025: Tweet

  First time representing the Government at Treasury Questions yesterday. Looking forward to helping the Tories understand that unless we deliver secure, home-grown renewable energy through cheap renewable generation, there is no energy security ahead. https://x.com/TorstenBell/status/1882028268599357738/video/1 [Source]

• 21 Jan 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  We take very seriously the need to protect communities from flooding and to deliver on our commitments on climate in the years ahead. It is important that we consider both principles and that is what the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are doing.

  Full debate: Green Infrastructure Investment

• 12 Dec 2024: Tweet

  While we’re on the subject of getting things built… this is great news. The new £70m Greener Grid Park in Swansea is an important part of how we maximise the potential for Welsh renewable energy projects to deliver cheaper and carbon free energy https://twitter.com/prifweinidog/status/1867172056007082383 [Source]

• 28 Aug 2024: Tweet

  We want growth for higher wages, lower absolute poverty, half decent public services, the ability to tackle climate change while protecting household living standards… we won’t solve the huge crises we face by flirting with a degrowth agenda that makes almost everything harder https://twitter.com/carolinelucas/status/1828719450142491110 [Source]

• 17 Jul 2024: Tweet

  You can be pro-net zero or pro-zero building but not both… https://twitter.com/jasongroves1/status/1813454336195702893 [Source]

• 15 Jul 2024: Tweet

  RT @WelshLabour: Today, we have officially launched Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru — our publicly-owned renewable energy developer for Wales. Labour… [Source]

• 12 Jul 2024: Tweet

  Things are going to get built and our energy is going to be decarbonised because the country elected a Labour Government. Ignore the cynics - who you vote for does change things. https://twitter.com/aliciakearns/status/1811812445695963142 [Source]

• 09 Jul 2024: Tweet

  @tim_blandford @RachelReevesMP It really does - if were to decarbonise our electricity amongst other things [Source]

• 08 Jul 2024: Tweet

  Oh, and don’t believe anyone who tells you they are serious about net zero while regularly opposing wind or solar farms, or the networks required for the energy generated to get to where people and industry are. So fed up of this nonsense ???? https://twitter.com/seandsmyth/status/1810205991004172605 [Source]

• 08 Jul 2024: Tweet

  2. If we want net zero to happen, and to happen without higher costs, then things are going to have to be built. Things that not everyone loves. And they will also have to be built if we want our firms to be able to invest, grow and pay higher wages [Source]

• 05 Jul 2024: Tweet

  RT @10DowningStreet: Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP @Ed_Miliband as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero @energygovuk. https://t.co/b… [Source]

• 13 Jun 2024: Tweet

  When Labour’s manifesto is published imminently no-one who actually pays attention can say the parties are the same: - no unfunded tax cuts - invest in net zero not playing politics with it - biggest expansion of workers rights in my lifetime - homes built not blocked [Source]

• 19 Mar 2024: Tweet

  People will say we can't knock anything down for net zero/embedded carbon reasons - but the reason much of Europe has so much more energy efficient homes is their housing stock is just nowhere near as old/knackered. [Source]

• 11 Feb 2024: Tweet

  If we want net zero to happen, and to happen without higher costs, then things are going to have to be built. Things that not everyone loves. https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1756647786701832566 [Source]

• 11 Feb 2024: Tweet

  That was what was refreshing about @EvanHD now famous interview with the Chief Secretary this week - focusing on the substance of how huge tax cuts make sense when 1) debt is rising 2) public services are creaking 3) more not less public investment is needed (hello net zero) [Source]

• 07 Feb 2024: Tweet

  The evidence supports neither campaigners who say net zero is a free lunch, nor the sceptics who simply throw up their hands and say this is all impossible. Like lots of other areas of public policy, parts of it are hard but can, and must, still be done [Source]

• 07 Feb 2024: Tweet

  More important than a headline £ commitment is what either main party has to say on the policy substance. Both are committed (in theory) to a big ramping up of net zero action in the next parliament. That simply wont happen without more public investment, especially on homes [Source]

• 04 Feb 2024: Tweet

  If these fines are dropped it’s the symptom of the problem (no progress on the home heating part of the net zero transition) rather than its cause. We’re installing about 30k heat pumps a year but will need to be installing 1 million a year during 2030s… https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1754220154647380095 [Source]

• 22 Jan 2024: Tweet

  Come work @resfoundation on how Britain can deliver net zero while protecting the living standards of those on low and middle incomes. The transition needs you ???? https://twitter.com/resfoundation/status/1749358022659322133 [Source]

• 22 Nov 2023: Tweet

  Despite criticising labour for wanting to borrow for capital spending on green growth, Chancellor announces pot to fund decarbonisation of key manufacturing industries. Sensible and more cross party agreement than either admits [Source]

• 22 Nov 2023: Tweet

  It's lucky we haven't got a net zero transition to fund... [Source]

• 09 Oct 2023: Tweet

  In many ways whether and how we manage that is the political economy task of the next few decades - it's the hard part of the net zero transition and it's what will turn growth aspirations into growth reality. Time we got on with it [Source]

• 09 Oct 2023: Tweet

  On how to raise PRIVATE investment, Labour has two arguments: - crowding in green investment with clear net zero plans/public investment - a platform of political/economic stability generally (ie not being Liz Truss or Boris Johnson) These will help but... [Source]

• 09 Oct 2023: Tweet

  She's not wrong 3. The net zero transition is best thought of as a huge invest to save project (not just saving the planet, saving in terms of cheaper running costs) [Source]

• 27 Sep 2023: Tweet

  The immediate cuts problem. Public investment levels right now are higher than we have seen for some time. But significant cuts lie ahead - from 2.5% of GDP to 2.2% in 2027-28. That is mad when Britain needs to be investing more not less (hello the net zero transition) https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1706970104905228777/photo/1 [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  Reading this speech you’re left with the impression it’s much more about staking out a new approach to the politics of the election run in than to net zero https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-net-zero-20-september-2023 [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  …obviously announcing changes to those targets is also taking the easy route to signalling a different approach. And saying what you won’t be doing to achieve net zero isn’t the same thing as saying what you actually will do… [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  So… @RishiSunak isn’t wrong that politicians and campaigners have focused on the announcing of net zero targets rather than the policy required to get us there… https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1704549865735303591/photo/1 [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  ...ideally net zero policy would mainly be about country/planet https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1704486343852618097 [Source]

• 20 Sep 2023: Tweet

  Boiler Upgrade Scheme is the subsidy for installing heat pumps - raising it is what actually matters for getting some actual progress on heat pump installations (currently laughably low). Obviously means a bigger state (despite libertarian rhetoric of net zero sceptics) https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1704446969173745671 [Source]

• 19 Sep 2023: Tweet

  This all reflects the real problem with the far too slow transition of net zero targets/discussions into bread and butter normal policy questions - which politicians flippantly announcing ambitious targets (or campaigners pretending everything is easy) are also guilty of [Source]

• 19 Sep 2023: Tweet

  On the substance really important to think about these targets separately. EVs are the part of the net zero transition that actually saves households money - and any ban on petrol/diesel cars was always contingent on delivering charging infrastructure (=the real policy challenge) https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1704186169305489812/photo/1 [Source]

• 19 Sep 2023: Tweet

  People in Westminster are massively overestimating the political salience of tweaking (but keeping) net zero targets for the 2030s https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1704178965731041739 [Source]

• 04 Aug 2023: Tweet

  Latest in "the buying of electric cars is not the hard bit of the net zero transition" news https://twitter.com/DrSimEvans/status/1687395053679874048 [Source]

• 24 Jul 2023: Tweet

  Embarrassing debate on 2030 petrol/diesel car ban in last few days - totally ignoring why this isn't the hard bit of the net zero transition: - electric cars are CHEAPER to run - richer households buy new cars This isn't where net zero gets difficult household finance wise [Source]

• 21 Jul 2023: Tweet

  @kateferguson4 National rows about the pace of heat pump roll out and who pays for installations - if the Conservatives in opposition move into a more overtly anti-net zero measures position than they have in government [Source]

• 02 Jul 2023: Tweet

  IF there’s a change of government in 2024 we are going to see net zero (the specifics/timelines not principle) move out of the cross party consensus bucket and into the politically contested one https://twitter.com/AllieHBNews/status/1675614602183294977 [Source]

• 28 Jun 2023: Tweet

  Lots of great analysis in here - especially highlighting that we're not making enough progress on industrial decarbonisation and the home heating transition https://twitter.com/StarkClimate/status/1673965230500577281 [Source]

• 13 Mar 2023: Tweet

  Fourth: our economic strategy needs to do, but also look well beyond, net zero. With everyone competing for domestic green technology production how about we don't forget the sectors we know we're good at: we're a service-exporting superpower with sides in beverages & aerospace https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1635261847078334464/photo/1 [Source]

• 13 Mar 2023: Tweet

  Second: get on with a net zero industrial strategy but focus our efforts. Not because we don't have the fiscal firepower of the US/EU, but because we don't have the market size. So focus on our clear comparative advantages (wind power) and areas with smaller economies of scale https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1635261841344724994/photo/1 [Source]

• 20 Feb 2023: Tweet

  This is part of a wider problem on perspective - we increasingly talk as if net zero related investments are the beginning and end of economic strategies for advanced economies in the 2020s. They simply can't be scale wise (despite being crucial) https://twitter.com/adam_tooze/status/1627624110737047552 [Source]

• 07 Feb 2023: Tweet

  So confirmed - we've gone back to Gordon Brown's 2007 Whitehall: Department for energy security and net zero = DECC Department for business and trade = DBERR Department for science, innovation and technology = DIUS https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1622724594988638209 [Source]

• 14 Oct 2022: Tweet

  Public investment is where cuts are going to come - science, net zero and transport going to get hit https://twitter.com/PhilAldrick/status/1580926856974708737 [Source]

• 23 Sep 2022: Tweet

  4. Not really discussed at all today, but the government has also at last got going on the new ECO scheme to deliver home energy efficiency improvements. Ramping progress up here is the key challenge facing net zero delivery in the 2020s on the household side of things https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1573339171745570817/photo/1 [Source]

• 18 Sep 2022: Tweet

  @rcolvile @James_BG It’s more the general “we need to tank GDP to have a chance of achieving net zero” brigade I was thinking of, rather than the proponents of specific steps to achieve net zero (which we clearly need, some of which boost growth and others not) [Source]

• 31 Aug 2022: Tweet

  Cut the green cr*p! Can't believe I missed this off the original list. Still keep hearing people saying this problem is being caused by green levies/green energy/green... speaking/thinking. This rather underplays the role of: 1) gas (it's got carbon in it people) 2) PUTIN [Source]

• 26 Aug 2022: Tweet

  While we're on the radical policy moves that are going to have to come in the months ahead - there is no way the reluctance to tackle the windfalls being accrued by renewable energy generators can hold. The choice is just if we windfall tax those profits or regulate them down [Source]

• 25 Jul 2022: Tweet

  Big picture: both candidates happy to avoid rows on almost anything (Boris/Net Zero/NHS) and focus on the “when you cut taxes” dividing line that’s dominated the contest so far [Source]

• 25 Jul 2022: Tweet

  Longer discussion of expensive suits than net zero… on which neither wants a row either [Source]

• 25 Jul 2022: Tweet

  Net Zero - no-one really wants a row or to set out what it will take to deliver the targets we’re theoretically committed to [Source]

• 04 Jul 2022: Tweet

  @danielrportis @ACJSissons @theCCCuk agree EVs are a straight invest to save exercise. On HPs I would be far less confident... Put it this way, if we didn't need to decarbonise we wouldn't be imminently shifting on mass to HPs given our housing stock [Source]

• 04 Jul 2022: Tweet

  @danielrportis @ACJSissons @theCCCuk That's massively too optimistic. Lots of what we're doing is investing to largely maintain the status quo (just with less carbon...). If cheap abundant electricity materialises then we'd be talking, but being confident that'll happen in the near future is... bold [Source]

• 04 Jul 2022: Tweet

  @ACJSissons @danielrportis @theCCCuk People certain there will be a big productivity impact are massively overdoing it (whether they're green campaigners or climate sceptic doomsters) is my unpopular view [Source]

• 04 Jul 2022: Tweet

  @danielrportis @ACJSissons @theCCCuk We're not literally going to spend £28bn on better lofts obviously. Read the next tweet - the basic point is govt is going to be spending to decarbonise our infrastructure more than to transform our economy into a green manufacturing powerhouse [Source]

• 03 Jul 2022: Tweet

  Not just the housing stock, but funding the huge invest to save project that net zero amounts to (houses, energy generation, electric vehicle infrastructure and the rest). Collectivising those up front costs is what social democrats are going to be about in the decades ahead [Source]

• 03 Jul 2022: Tweet

  Labour talks as if the focus of the £28bn they’ve earmarked for green investment will be creating jobs. If they ever ended up in government the reality is it’d go on sorting out our housing stock (or we’d just end up way of track net zero wise) https://twitter.com/jreynoldsMP/status/1543549072312864768 [Source]

• 17 Jun 2022: Tweet

  Chart is courtesy of @JMarshall_3 who you should all be following for our net zero research and more [Source]

• 10 May 2022: Tweet

  If you want one thing to be perky about it should be that the Energy Security Bill partly embodies one of the big positives about our politics (vs the US or even Germany): both main parties are serious about net zero [Source]

• 15 Mar 2022: Tweet

  Conservatives in Government saying much more sensible things on energy than those filling newspaper columns/hoping for relevance by trying (and failing) to turn net zero into a culture war https://t.co/Fz6U3bnvuC [Source]

• 14 Mar 2022: Tweet

  @johnharris1969 There's some overlap with more majoritarian positions ie a cut to fuel duty is really about popular cost of living help now but some fringe elements will be happy to read it as a big net zero rethink [Source]

• 14 Mar 2022: Tweet

  @johnharris1969 Not mad for those who are anti-net zero to try and scare Johnson into diluting progress, but mad for any major party to significantly change tack on the issue. I really don't think the govt will do more than showing a bit of leg to placate the vocal minority [Source]

• 14 Mar 2022: Tweet

  Trying to turn the crisis in Ukraine into an internal UK debate on Net Zero is 1) bonkers on the substance 2) mad politics for any party aiming for more than about 5% of the vote https://twitter.com/johnharris1969/status/1503327182382325765 [Source]

• 07 Mar 2022: Tweet

  You know what's not a good idea before an energy price crisis? Wasting ten crucial years when we should have been insulating the UK's disastrously energy inefficient housing stock. Not sure a referendum on net zero will sort that https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1500765107051237378/photo/1 [Source]

• 20 Feb 2022: Tweet

  The huge gap between rhetoric and reality on economic change matters. It focuses our attention on the wrong problems and drives us to the wrong answers. And because we’re not used to change we’re ill prepared if it arrives in the 2020s as covid, Brexit and net zero combine [Source]

• 10 Feb 2022: Tweet

  The state is getting bigger - the 2020s is all about rising pension, health and net zero spending pressures. The first two alone total £76bn by 2030 https://twitter.com/TorstenBell/status/1491759758134714374/photo/1 [Source]