Climate Change Bill [HL]

We appreciate the spirit of what the noble Lord seeks to achieve. I repeat that we are keen to ensure the transparency of the overall framework of the Bill, and not just of individual clauses. That will be looked at throughout the Bill. We have provided a system of annual accountability through the Government’s statement of UK emissions under Clause 12, the committee’s progress report to Parliament under Clause 28, and the Government’s response under Clause 29. We look forward to discussing those clauses later on. However, the amendment would not help the process of annual accountability, because the statement under Clause 12 is meant simply to provide factual information on net UK emissions and carbon units. The information will be quantified and verified. It will put the facts clearly on the table for everyone. It should then be for the independent Committee on Climate Change to make the first assessment of whether those facts demonstrate sufficient progress. This would ensure that the assessment was robust and objective. The approach in the Bill is for the Clause 12 report to be laid in March, to provide the essential factual information. Much of this information would not be available until that date. Based on the factual information contained in the Clause 12 statement, the Committee on Climate Change would then have until June to make its assessment of progress and lay its Clause 28 report before Parliament. The Government would then have to respond under Clause 29 by—I think—October. The amendment, taken with Amendment No. 67, which we discussed earlier, would require the committee to make a first assessment of progress in March under Clause 12, and then a second assessment in June under Clause 28. That would lead to massive duplication. I am not seeking to cut debate short, but I hope that we will have a full discussion of the issue in the context of Clauses 28 and 29. It is best, if noble Lords agree, to leave it until then, when we can debate the matter in the round.