Climate Change Bill [HL]

The noble Lord is absolutely right. I am terribly sorry. It was still a good speech though. I pick up the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, when he talked about annual reporting and accountability. He said that it would be possible for us to be completely unaware of the progress that was being made. That was one of his arguments for having shorter time periods. Within the Bill there are very strong annual reporting duties. Annual accountability through the committee’s progress report to Parliament, and the Government’s response to it, is an important part of this. This will help to ensure that there is a well informed public and parliamentary debate about the UK’s progress towards the 2050 target and will help to create that visual trajectory which is important for people’s understanding. We should not underestimate the strength of the reporting provisions in Clauses 28 and 29, which we shall debate later. It is extremely important that the budget setting period not only chimes with the needs of industry but chimes very much with the international environment. We are not just talking about achieving results on our own. We aim to achieve results in an international context. I shall read the debate and pick up any points that I have not responded to as, initially, I used the wrong note. However, Members on all sides of the Committee were very clear that the climate committee should advise on progress. We are not looking at three-year budget periods because of all the reasons that we have discussed. The five-year period is a good one. With that, I hope that noble Lords will consider withdrawing their amendments.