Communities and Local Government/Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The right hon. Gentleman will know that when the energy review was published last June, two themes were at its heart. One was energy security and the other was environmental improvement. Running through that review was the need to improve our performance on greenhouse gas emissions. By definition, climate issues will necessarily be at the heart of any Bill to tackle energy. I was saying that the review of the operation of article 9 of the Kyoto protocol was also important. It is not a negotiation, so it does not set targets, but it will conclude by 2008. According to most experts, that gives us an extra year in which to conclude global climate change negotiations. The UK will contribute with enthusiasm and commitment to all that work and 2007 will be an absolutely key year with the German G8 presidency, a new UN Secretary-General and the next conference of the parties in Bali, when final negotiations should be launched. The leadership of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Foreign Secretary was widely recognised at Nairobi and the Stern review has had enormous impact around the world—in developed countries, but also in the developing world. Our climate change Bill will be a European first and, as the Prime Minister set out last Wednesday, will have four elements. It will put into statute the Government’s long-term goal of a 60 per cent. reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.