RUSHES: George Eustice interview

George Eustice interview; ENGLAND: London: Westminster:EXTGeorge Eustice MP (Environment Secretary) interview SOT 2/2Q Is there anything the government is doing to mitigate the cost of bills?A - Very difficult when you have such a sharp rise in gas prices, that trickles into lots of areas- We have announced changes to the sustainable farming incentive, they will be able to use nitrogen fixing plants- It won't be an entire solution but will give them optionsQ Why are greenhouse gas emissions still growing?A - Overall our carbon emissions have been going down- Reduced since 1990 levels by about 40%- There will be fluctuations year on year, but overall we are on a downward trajectory- We are on course to hit carbon budgets by middle of the century- Requires a lot of investment but we are getting thereQ More North Sea oil licenses expected to be granted, does this confuse messaging on net zero?A - I don't think it does, we want net zero by 2050- We are expanding our renewable energy contribution- There is a role for gas in that future- Some vehicles will need hydrogen power - Realistically you will need some gas to split the hydrogenQ Why can't sewage overflows be dealt with earlier than 2035?A - It's a huge undertaking, to fix this entirely would require you to rip up the sewers across the country and rewire it- It could be up to £600 billion to deal with this- We are making big investments in the near term to tackle the most difficult and polluting overflows- By 2035 we will have reduced that by 75%.