Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 124A: 124A: Schedule 1, page 32, line 8, leave out ““eight”” and insert ““nine”” The right reverend Prelate said: In seeking to introduce to the scope of the Committee on Climate Change the dimension of international development, the amendments seek to balance the other important interests on the committee with the needs of those who are already being affected in their millions by the impact of climate change. The Government already accept an obligation to help poor countries through the work of DfID. The amendment would ensure that that responsibility is integrated into the committee and into the Government’s overall strategy on climate change. A few months ago, I was in America meeting political and religious leaders about the environment. The faith communities have a major role in changing hearts and minds about the threat of global warming in America, Europe and throughout the world. In Orlando and Washington, I was involved in leading seminars with evangelical leaders, imams and rabbis, whose increasing concern is focused on the impact of climate change on the poor of the world. I also had meetings on Capitol Hill, facilitated by the British Embassy, with officials in Speaker Pelosi’s office and with the staff of Senator Boxer, who are closely involved in the climate security Act that is going through Congress. In all those meetings, I observed huge interest in and great appreciation of the UK Government’s leadership, especially in their initiative in introducing this Bill. I say that in the hope that the Minister will recognise that my noble friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London, the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, and I tabled the amendments to strengthen the Bill. We all know, and the point has been well made during our debates, that this crisis affects the whole planet, and it cannot be dealt with by one nation alone. That has been the position adopted by the Government in both the Kyoto Protocol, where they took such an effective lead, and in the Bali negotiations. The amendments seek to bring to the heart of the committee’s work this international dimension. To do so would strengthen Her Majesty’s Government’s standing on the international stage and give an example to other nations that we cannot and must not take decisions without regard to international negotiations and international development. There were many impressive speeches on Second Reading. I regret that, because of duties in Liverpool, I had to withdraw from the debate at the last moment, but I heard the speech made by the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam. Noble Lords will remember that he made an impassioned plea that this was at heart a moral issue. He compared the Bill with the legislation to abolish the slave trade. One of the turning points in the parliamentary mood that helped to secure the votes to pass the legislation was when the parliamentary commission heard evidence from a former slave ship commander, John Newton. That brought not just the facts but the experience of slave trading to the heart of the legislative process. The amendments seek to bring the experience of climate change to the heart of the Government’s decision making. I know that the Committee on Climate Change will include an expert on climate science and that person will certainly bring facts, but someone with expertise in international development would bring the human experience of the impact of climate change. The tragedy of the present situation of global warming is that the poor in developing countries are already feeling and suffering disastrously from the effects of climate change. They do not, however, have the power to do anything about it. Those of us who possess the power do not as yet feel the full impact of our actions and have therefore been slow to bring in the necessary measures. These amendments and the proposal to have on the Committee on Climate Change someone with expertise in international development will ensure that the voice of the poor and the plight of the powerless are heard and seen at the heart of Government and, most importantly, will underline the urgency which is still lacking in the popular mood. The Bill requires the committee to, "““provide advice, analysis and information in connection with climate change generally””." It is difficult to see how the committee can fulfil this brief adequately without reference to what is happening in other parts of the world. I hope the Minister will view these amendments as a friendly and constructive contribution to the Bill and to the Government’s leadership on climate change nationally and internationally. I beg to move.