My Lords, there is surely nothing more important than addressing climate change, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and others have made clear. It is difficult to see that any trade agreement could possibly be justified if it is in contradiction to what must be an overriding national and international aim. Trade agreements must at the very least be consistent with our climate goals, and certainly must not undermine those commitments. I am sure that the noble Viscount will note the cross-party nature of many of these amendments.
My noble friend Lord Oates is very sorry that he cannot be here today, as he is attending a funeral. Amendment 12 in the name of Lord Grantchester and others, including my noble friend Lord Oates, means that any trade agreement we make must be consistent with our commitments under the Paris climate change agreement, CITES and the Convention on Biological Diversity. That is surely a given, and yet we know that this does not mean that such aims are built into trade deals. In Amendment 21, my noble friend Lord Oates and others make the case here stronger still: that trade deals can be made only with those who have signed up to the Paris Agreement, or not served notice that they intend to leave.
If after the debate we heard in the United States this week the American people decide that they wish to have Mr Trump as President for the next four years, then no trade deal could be undertaken with the United States, which will have pulled out of the Paris Agreement by then, having given the necessary three years’ notice and a fourth year to implement that—the four-year provision that President Obama very sensibly put into the Paris Agreement.
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Amendment 40 spells out the commitments further. Clearly, it is vital that any trade deals do not undermine the United Kingdom’s climate goals or UK businesses as we seek to develop green industries here. The Government have said that this is what they wish to do, but the removal of support which had been put in place during the coalition period rather belies that case. Yet here we are, in the run-up to COP 26—as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, mentioned —which we are co-hosting with Italy: we must show to the world leadership in this area, if we are going to persuade other countries to sign up to the necessary commitments.
The substance of these amendments should be fully acceptable to the Government. Those who say that the amendments in this group are not necessary should not then worry if they are added, because they will not cause problems. But even in rollover, things must be updated—the other side will certainly do that.
The noble Viscount will be familiar with the force of cross-party amendments. He will, I am sure, be familiar too with speeches written for Ministers in these circumstances which state that amendments are flawed or not appropriate for a Bill. If he has passages like that in his speech, he has time enough now to cross them out, because he knows that he will need to answer the substance of what we are saying here. I therefore look forward to hearing the Minister’s reply.