Climate Change Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am pleased that we have had the opportunity of debating this subject at a reasonable hour, which has meant that the issue has been well aired. I shall speak to a particular aspect of the amendment, which is reporting on emissions. In the light of the National Audit Office report, that is a pressing issue. The NAO review of measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions pointed out that one of the potential pitfalls of the implementation of the Bill is how we will know what we are emitting. In its current form the Bill marries the measurement of reporting mechanisms to international reporting practice. That is right and proper and we see nothing wrong with that. It is indeed important to accord with international standards in the face of an international problem. However, the amount of carbon being emitted might not correspond to those figures. According to the NAO report, the environmental accounts compiled for the Office for National Statistics show much higher emissions than those being reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. One reason for that is that the ONS emission figures include international aviation and shipping, which we are pleased will now be included in the Bill on the decision of your Lordships' House. However, that is not the only reason that the ONS statistics are higher. There are many different ways of calculating greenhouse gas emissions. What efforts are currently being made to standardise the method? To what degree can the Minister guarantee the accuracy of the figures? If we are calculating our emissions according to international standards, but have further information that we are emitting in ways that are not required to be reported to the UNFCCC, what do the Government plan to do to address that discrepancy? Can the Minister give undertakings that the budgets will be set to take account of the fact that there are emissions that are not being included? Will the Government agree to alter their percentages in the light of the fact that there might be more emissions that need to be reduced—such that a 100 per cent reduction would really get rid of all gases? I was dismayed to see the context of the NAO report. It implies that the Government have not been effective at all in reducing emissions, although they had led us to believe that they had been. What mechanisms will be put in place to ensure that ministerial reporting on emissions takes into account the entire spectrum of our emissions? Does the Minister not think that it is vital to be open and accurate in reporting emissions data? The NAO report notes that new reporting budget mechanisms in the Climate Change Bill might, "““complicate the reporting framework further””." What is being done to ensure that that does not happen? Is there any way to ensure that that is not the case? Will the National Audit Office review the new framework? Finally, and importantly, will the Minister confirm that he has held consultations following the report to avoid the traps that it outlines? In order to implement a proper system as proposed under the amendment, we need to have a proper measurement system.