Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 47: 47: Clause 10, page 6, line 12, at end insert ““, particularly with respect to poverty reduction”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Clause 10 sets out the matters to be taken into account by both the Secretary of State and the climate change committee in recommending and setting climate change budgets. Subsection (2)(h) speaks of, "““circumstances at European and international level””." What does the latter mean? Do we take into consideration who the president of the United States is and his reluctance to take action on climate change, or what? The amendment seeks to make explicit that when the Secretary of State and the climate change committee are looking at the international context, they must consider the impact of their actions on the poorest people in the poorest countries. As we know, climate change will affect those living at the margins first and foremost. That is one of the main reasons why action is so urgent. We already see the impact on fragile countries, and it is disproportionately far greater than in the United Kingdom, which so far has been relatively well cushioned. Developed countries have done more to produce climate change and have a greater responsibility to tackle it, but we also know that that will be difficult; the temptation will be to try to buy credits elsewhere to meet targets. So we need to ensure that we always bear in mind the impact of our actions on developing countries and on poverty reduction. We also know that we will ultimately require reductions in emissions in developing countries, or at least that those countries will need to develop in a different way so as not to increase their carbon emissions. International negotiations will need to safeguard the right to development in this circumstance. Again, we must bear in mind the necessity to address poverty reduction. The Minister may well say that that is already at the forefront of the Government’s mind. To take a case in point, there are the new appointments to the climate change committee. I welcome this group, with its wealth of experience, but the press release accompanying the appointments states that it brings together expertise, "““from the fields of climate science and policy, economics, business and financial management””." Nowhere does it say that expertise on the particular effect of climate change on developing countries is represented there. For that reason, it is vital that this aspect is in the Bill. I beg to move.