Climate Change Bill [HL]

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do disagree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 7, substituting the words on the Marshalled List in lieu, and that the House do agree with Amendments Nos. 12, 18, 25, 28, 31 and 74. These amendments deal with emissions from international aviation and international shipping, perhaps the most technically complex issue we have had to discuss during the passage of the Bill. Throughout the discussions, the Government’s position has been that it is vital to put in place strong mechanisms for dealing with emissions from international aviation and shipping, but that finding the right way of deciding which of those emissions should be allocated as being the UK’s responsibility is not possible at the moment. The set of amendments on which I seek your Lordships’ agreement reflects that position. The amendments would take us as near as is currently possible to including these emissions in the Bill’s targets and budgets, and would also ensure maximum transparency about how we deal with them in the meantime. Many contributors have provided valuable views and support in taking forward our thinking on this difficult matter. In particular, the Joint Committee which scrutinised the draft Bill considered it in great detail, and Members of this House and in the other place put forward proposals. More recently, the views of the shadow Committee on Climate Change have helped to shape the amendments which are being considered today. In its interim advice the committee advised that international aviation and shipping emissions should be included in the UK’s efforts to reduce overall emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, but that they should not be included in the Bill’s targets at this time because of the lack of an appropriate methodology. The committee also recommended that emissions from these sectors should be reflected in its annual reports of progress and should be taken into account in the setting of budgets. This is a comprehensive set of recommendations, and I believe that all of them are provided for in the amendments that I bring before the House tonight, which would do three main things. First, Amendments Nos. 12 and 18 would require that emissions from international aviation and shipping must be included in the Bill by 31 December 2012, or that the Government must lay a report before Parliament explaining why that is not the case. That approach is closely aligned with the view previously agreed by this House: the differences are in how we define the emissions and in providing an earlier deadline for inclusion or explanation that aligns with the budget-setting process. On defining these emissions, the House recognised that one possible method would be by reference to the transport of goods and passengers. However, there are other potential options for definition, and we do not want inadvertently to rule them out. This is why we are seeking to revert back to the broader language of ““international aviation and shipping emissions””, which is established terminology within the UN and EU. Secondly, Amendment No. 25 would require that the Committee on Climate Change must, when providing its advice on carbon budgets, give its view on the consequences of including emissions from international aviation and shipping within the targets and budgets. Amendments Nos. 28, 31 and 74 are consequential to Amendment No. 25. Thirdly, Amendment No. 7 reflects the view, as put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Turner, in his letter to the Secretary of State, that although the right methodology does not yet exist for including these emissions in the carbon budgets, decisions made by the committee or the Government in relation to the budgets must take into account projected emissions from international aviation and shipping. At Commons Report stage, the Government accepted an amendment which reflected the committee’s view, but on the basis that we would need to discuss the specific drafting with parliamentary counsel. Amendments Nos. 7B and C provide the new, revised version. These amendments would require both the Government and the committee to have regard to projected emissions from international aviation and international shipping in setting, and advising on, carbon budgets, respectively. They also provide that these projections may be estimated using such reasonable methods as the Secretary of State or the committee considers appropriate. I beg to move. Moved, That this House do disagree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 7 but do propose Amendments Nos. 7B and 7C in lieu.—(Lord Hunt of Kings Heath.)