Debate on the Address

My Lords, 50 years ago I helped to establish a firm called Clintons, in which the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, has been a partner. The noble Baroness has certainly not let down the firm or the cause that she represents. I am the president of BALPA, the British Air Line Pilots Association—much, I fear, to the chagrin of my good friend, my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Hudnall. I want to address two subjects primarily: climate change and, very briefly, airline security. Climate change was recently highlighted by the voluminous and highly relevant Stern report, commissioned, I am glad to say, by the Treasury. There can be no doubt that climate change must be central to the Government’s environmental policy. As the report has stressed, inaction is simply not an option. It is clear that largely superficial steps will fail utterly to confront this vital issue. Here I refer to the Leader of the Conservative Party’s ““dog sled”” initiative, and his ideas about roof turbines. I consider also that annual targets are utterly insufficient. Far better to have annual statements to Parliament that can be tested by rigorous questions and answers. For my own part I think it tragic that, before the recent congressional elections, the Bush Administration in the United States was in a state of total denial about the deadly effects of climate change. There are also those who hold the minority view that all those who articulate an opinion on actions to abate the ill effects of climate change are simply wrong. They also consider that the Stern report was misconceived, and that people are being misled by the climate change industry so that it can prosper. In my humble opinion, such comfort-seekers deliberately distort the whole situation. But assume the majority of scientists are wrong in their view, which I utterly dispute. Why not take some remedial action now? Would not the cost of that be very small compared with the price of total inertia? Stern observes that if action is taken in the near future, the cost of cutting fossil fuel emissions would be about 1 per cent of global GDP. However, if we delay, especially if that delay is substantial, the financial cost will be immeasurably higher—although cost is not the only criterion we have to consider. I am glad to say that the United Kingdom Government are not prepared to sit on their haunches. An initiative before the appropriate UN body, and also in the EU, is to be welcomed. I speak as a member of the European Community, charged, among other things, with the environment. As regards aviation, I unreservedly support tough and enforceable emissions trading, which is enthusiastically backed by BALPA. However, that is simply not enough. Should we not be thinking of reducing, perhaps even eliminating, short-haul flights? Are people unable to reach their destinations by other, more environmentally friendly means? I am far from being able to answer these complex issues with any degree of certainty, but in my view the aviation industry must attempt to do so. In my submission, it is appropriate to consider radical measures to confront the risk that the planet and mankind are in grave danger of irreversible catastrophe. The Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, who once looked after environmental matters, said in Berlin: "““This is not just an environmental problem. It is a defence problem. It is a problem for those who deal with economics and development, conflict prevention, agriculture, finance, housing, transport, innovation, trade and health””—" in other words, it is all-consuming. Recently, Sir Nicholas Stern put the matter in stark terms when he opined that climate change represents the biggest market failure ever, bigger than the two World Wars and the Depression put together. To combat it will cost a huge amount, but it is affordable, if only because a refusal to act will end up costing a whole lot more. I think he has sounded a warning note of which we should take heed. Crucially, we have to get India and China on board. We cannot expect that to happen automatically. The two countries currently perceive that their economic advance is irrevocably linked to carbon emissions, and it is inconceivable that they will retreat from that stance unless the EU, including ourselves, is prepared to take some ameliorative action. I say that although the United Kingdom accounts for a very small proportion of the global total. I think that my noble friend said at the beginning of the debate that we account for about 2 per cent. It therefore follows that we must support emissions trading, technological co-operation and a marked reduction in deforestation, which is already proceeding apace, and we ought to become more conscious of what the individual can undertake. Should we not be prepared to see increase taxation on cars? Should we not seek an international agreement on levying airlines on carbon emissions produced? Should local authorities have a duty to ensure that public transport is more readily available? I fail to see how greater road building is consistent with that, and the call for a new generation of Trident missiles seems wholly out of kilter with those obligations. Novel ideas must not be simply shelved. Elliott Morley, when an environment Minister, called for carbon credits, and he was followed in that by the new Secretary of State for the Environment, David Miliband, who has expanded on that concept. He has called for the implementation of a pilot project. He has envisaged more environmentally sustainable trade by the supermarkets. He has addressed the value that the European Union could add to the global environmental scene by committing the entire membership to environmental protection. In my view, he was absolutely right to postulate and promote those views. I turn briefly to airline security. Some voices, notably the chief executive of Ryanair, condemn any measures of enhanced security for airlines. I think that that is utterly wrong; indeed, it is undoubtedly an offence as far as the travelling public are concerned. On the other hand, we should listen much more assiduously to those who have firsthand experience—the pilots—that they are anxious to submit. At the moment their views are too often dismissed. Although climate change and increased airline security are significant, they represent only part of the problem that we have to face. I look forward with pleasure to the Climate Change Bill which Parliament will be considering.