Climate Change Bill [HL]

I had not intended to intervene but I want to say that my noble friend made a very good point when he suggested that names matter. I share his doubts about the effectiveness of the word ““committee””. Having listened to the noble Lord from the Liberal Democrat Front Bench, I suggest—perhaps out of a sense of nostalgia—that if ““commission”” is not acceptable, we might consider ““authority””. I was chairman of the National Rivers Authority. There were those who argued that it should not have been ““national”” because it did not cover Scotland, but it did give us an authority from the start that a lesser title would not have provided. I believe that, as a consequence, we proved to be a very effective organisation. I support my noble friend’s amendment because it is important to strengthen the authority by giving it a more powerful name. When we come to Report, if there is some doubt about ““commission””, I put forward a possible alternative of calling the body the ““climate change authority””.