Climate Change Bill [HL]

It was not in that part, but it was elsewhere. I do not want anyone to get the impression that sustainable development is not mentioned in the Bill. It is, in Clause 49, quite deliberately in the adaptation programme. There is no such requirement in Clause 11 and I am not sure whether that was raised before the Joint Committee, but we are strongly committed to promoting sustainable development and protecting and improving the environment. I am not so up to date. There have been several references to the Severn barrage. I do not think I dealt with the debate or was the Minister who gave the crass answer. It was obviously one of my colleagues. I am not going to get involved in that. All new policies are subject to an impact assessment which includes consideration of the principles of sustainable development and must take into account the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits. At present, all UK government departments are signed up to the 2005 sustainable development strategy. All departments publish a sustainable development action plan. The new cross-government public service agreements aim to ensure that all relevant departments have clear roles and responsibilities with respect to the important policy areas, so they are given full consideration in the policy-making process. The public service agreements are in place for climate change and the natural environment. We also of course ask the Sustainable Development Commission to act as an adviser, advocate and watchdog and to report publicly on the Government’s performance on sustainable development, and to help build capacity to deal with sustainable development issues. So we do not think in the round that it is necessary to place an additional sustainable development requirement on the policies and proposals report. That is not to say it can be ignored. The concentration is in the other part of the Bill—adaptation rather than mitigation—in terms of the actual words.