Climate Change Bill [HL]

My Lords, there is only one acid test as to whether or not the amendment is appropriate: is it going to make international aviation accountable? Will it make the EU Emissions Trading Scheme happen quicker, or will it make it more complicated to achieve? I do not think that anyone doubts—the aviation industry recognises this—that international air travel has to be brought into account. However, as the Minister reminded us in Committee, it is not helpful to have unilateral action, which in some ways confuses the issue and does not in any way help us to quantify the amount that has to be attributed in the UK account to international air travel. The issue that ultimately has to be addressed is how to change people’s personal lifestyles. Most of those who travel internationally, particularly on long haul, have to recognise that perhaps 25 per cent of their carbon footprint will be attributed to international aviation. That is a stark difference from 2 per cent, which is the overall figure, because so few people travel internationally. So if you asked the simple question, ““Does this Liberal Democrat amendment advance and help the cause of having not just effective EU emission trading schemes sooner rather than later but action by other international agencies, which work at an even slower speed on these issues?””, the answer emphatically is that it will not. Therefore the amendment is not going to help us. The noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, says that we are here to debate these issues. Actually, we are here to improve the Bill, and that is quite different.