Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 110: 110: Clause 22, page 11, line 36, after ““gases”” insert ““expressed in carbon units”” The noble Duke said: Amendment No. 114, which is grouped with this amendment, has already been addressed, so I shall concentrate on Amendment No. 110. It would change Clause 22 so that it explicitly stated that the target for greenhouse gases included in a budgetary period would be expressed in carbon units, which is current practice under the Kyoto agreement. I suspect that that is what the Government had in mind. It is international practice under Kyoto to express the impact of gases other than carbon in carbon equivalents. Our amendment would embed this idea in the clause, and, in doing so, would make it more precise. The amendment to a degree follows on from our amendments to ensure that the definition of a carbon unit is in accord with some international reporting practice, though this needs to be more clearly defined. By making our intention of using carbon equivalents more explicit, we would better track international treaties and agreements regarding carbon accounts. I assume that it is the Government’s intention to use carbon equivalents when dealing with greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide. Will the Minister confirm that? I beg to move.