Claire Perry MP, Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

“In this week of COP, it’s clearer than ever that we must maintain momentum on climate action and push ourselves to be more ambitious and innovative; however Christmas provides us with the opportunity to pause and reflect on our successes. Over the last year, the SEA has been one of the most progressive and proactive industry bodies driving growth in the low carbon buildings sector and I am sorry that I am not able to join you this evening to celebrate what has been an excellent year.

It has been a year in which we have laid a strong foundation for the work to come: in 2018 the Government committed to delivering the Buildings Mission, launched by the Prime Minister earlier this year. We also saw two milestone documents published last week, setting out the next steps for heat in buildings off the gas grid, and for heat networks.

But there is always more work to do and looking forward to next year, my department will continue to work with industry and consumers to develop a framework that drives clean growth and I know that the SEA – with its on-going contributions to a range of important policy areas – will be a valued contributor to this discussion. For now, I hope you take this moment to pause and celebrate a fantastic year.”

Lesley Rudd, Chief Executive of Sustainable Energy Association:

The Sustainable Energy Association Annual reception on the terrace of the House of Commons was an excellent opportunity to highlighted what a momentous year 2018 had been; the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, and Representation of the People Act, which extended the right to vote, the 10th Anniversary of the Climate Change Act which enshrined climate change targets in law and has helped to maintain a remarkable cross-party consensus, with five carbon budgets being approved by Parliament. She noted that publication of the IPCC Report and the COP24 Conference have highlighted the challenge of climate change and the need to act now before it is too late. Lesley looked forward to the enormous challenges of 2019 and stressed the need to “work together, people of all nations, parliamentarians of all parties, industry, and member associations like the SEA, to tackle the huge challenge that humanity faces and let us use the freedom we have to vote and to speak out to hold our politicians to account and ensure that the legacy we leave is one we can be proud of.”