Climate Change Bill [HL]

The noble Lord is supporting my case, in fact. If technologies became available that could bring forward meeting the target, yes, that would be taken into account. The carbon budgets are about achieving a direction of travel and setting a trajectory towards the 2050 target. What we cannot say is that a target should be met in each budget period, because then the Climate Change Committee, the Secretary of State and all those concerned would not be able to take into account all the factors to which the noble Lord alludes. I support the sentiment behind the noble Lord’s amendment. Yes, we need to drive forward the Bill’s policy objectives and we want to meet these targets—but the budgets are set taking into account a number of factors, including technological developments and economic and social factors. They are set as a direction of travel and with a view, even in the very early budget periods, to meeting the 2050 target. That is the correct terminology for the Bill and I hope that the noble Lord will consider withdrawing his amendment.