Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 167: 167: Schedule 2, page 42, line 13, at end insert— ““( ) The regulations must provide that units under other trading schemes at a European or international level must not contribute more than one quarter of the total allowances and credits in any one trading period.”” The noble Lord said: Most of our amendments in this group, which seek to set a maximum limit of overseas carbon credits at 25 per cent, are probing amendments. With the first of the amendments we are seeking to secure assurances from the Government on the limits that will be placed on trading overseas credit. In an earlier debate on this topic, my noble friend Lord Cathcart used the analogy of the buying of indulgences. That is a powerful analogy, if one-sided. The philosophical points surrounding the balance between ensuring genuine carbon reductions at home and support for overseas development were covered substantially at Second Reading. Our amendment contains a firm number, although that number may well taper over time. By indicating that we believe that a maximum of a quarter of our national reductions should be used in this way, we hope to encourage the Government to offer a firm position themselves. We understand that carbon trading and international offsetting are complicated issues, as the debates this afternoon have demonstrated. However, we still hope that the Minister will be able to furnish the Committee with some idea of the Government’s position on the international offset of emissions at home. Our Amendment No. 167A is an attempt to ensure that the reporting procedures allow a clear account for how much in the net UK carbon account is based on contributions from home and how much from abroad. We do not anticipate much controversy with this amendment, as we hope that it is in keeping with the Government’s commitment to transparency on these issues and the intention on clear reporting mechanisms to account for the provenance of the contributions to the UK carbon account. I beg to move.