Climate Change Bill [HL]

First, I apologise to noble Lords for not being here earlier. I really wanted to be here but I was on a Select Committee that went on for a long time. I support the principle behind what my noble friend Lord Crickhowell and the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, said. If we lay a statutory duty on the Secretary of State in the long distant future, Governments will be tempted in the near future to say, ““Oh well, actually we do not have to do this. Someone else can do it later and they can catch up””. This provision would help to stop backsliding. People are always tempted to backslide; it is the most comfortable thing to do as opposed to taking difficult decisions. This process will take a lot of difficult decisions. A duty is being laid on a Government in the quite distant future to do something, and this provision will help intermediate Governments to continue the process towards fulfilment.