Climate Change Bill [HL]

I think the answer to the noble Lord is yes. I saw the report of the work to which he has referred a couple of weeks ago. I think in Committee I gave some information about shipping which made it almost impossible for us to do the measurements at present. We cannot get an agreed methodology. The historic figures for UK shipping, based on the amount of fuel sold within the UK, demonstrate no discernible trend, which makes it very difficult for us to forecast future emissions as there is no evidence on which to base the forecast. Nevertheless, the nature of much of the international shipping industry is global and highly mobile and it operates without the need for permanent or continuous association with individual nation states. There is no agreed international methodology for attributing international shipping emissions to individual countries. A number of issues must be addressed before any methodology could be accepted, such as how to deal with the risk that vessels simply reflag to different countries or buy fuel at alternative locations; the lack of information about fuel efficiency of individual vessels or historic trade statistics; and the difficulties of calculating average emissions for a wide variety of vessels and engine types. We are taking steps, as I said in Committee, to address these issues through the International Maritime Organisation, but we are not there yet. When we have done that, we will be in a position genuinely to ask the Committee on Climate Change to make some kind of assessment. So the answer to my noble friend is yes. The Bill will facilitate it and does not stop us doing that. We are currently working on that at an international level. Therefore, to get the information and an agreed international methodology to put to the climate change committee is vitally important.