Climate Change

Yes. The Government want the refurbishment of existing schools to receive as much attention as efforts to ensure that new schools are low or zero emitters of carbon in the future. The hon. Member for Eastleigh talked about the existing building stock. It is clearly responsible for a large proportion of carbon emissions, but I do not want to downplay the importance that the Government place on minimising emissions from new development as, by 2050, a substantial proportion of total development will have been built after 2007. That is why it is important to recognise the Government’s commitment that all new homes should be zero carbon by 2016, with a phased introduction of higher standards in the interim. The hon. Gentleman is encouraging us to do some of the things that we are already doing to raise house building standards. We may not have started from the same place as Sweden and other Scandinavian countries that have focused on thermal efficiency for well over 70 years, but we are ratcheting up building standards and making a real difference. The Government are making a real commitment to do far more for the future. Over the next few months, we shall be saying something more about the sustainability of existing buildings, both domestic and non-domestic. There are already programmes to upgrade energy efficiency in homes—