Member

I welcome the Bill. I support the creation of Great British Energy and the Government’s commitment to achieving our net zero ambitions and clean power by 2030, but we must have the highest ethical standards for our solar industry. The British public do not want our net zero future to be built on slave labour. In its report, “Sourcing solar energy without Uyghur forced labour”, Unison stated that all polysilicon manufacturers in the Uyghur region have participated in forced labour transfer programmes, and/or are supplied by raw materials manufacturers that have done so. Multiple UK public sector bodies have been found to procure solar materials from companies sourcing polysilicon from the region. As the UK’s solar capacity is set to double, concerns are mounting that councils and other public service bodies will get locked into long-term contracts with unethical suppliers. We must ensure that our solar supply chain is free from Uyghur slave labour.