Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 71: 71: Clause 12, page 7, line 16, leave out ““March in the second”” and insert ““December in the”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, we move on to the part of the Bill about the annual report. An area critical for the credibility and future operation of the Bill when it becomes an Act, as I am sure it will, is reasonably timely reporting. If we do not have that, it is difficult, not just in this place but for the public at large, to keep in touch with some feeling of real time on where we are on national targets and emissions. The timescale in the Bill is currently very long indeed. If the Bill was in operation now, we would not know what the emissions for 2008 were until May 2010. That is a difficulty on two counts. First, the information is very much out of date in the public’s perception and for the debate that will, we hope, follow in this House and the other place. Secondly, there is a considerable lag in action that can be taken—adjustments, actions and policies—to address deviations and difficulties in meeting those targets. With the amendment, we are therefore saying that surely one year is sufficient to collect data. I remember saying in Committee, although I will not go through those arguments, that complex multinational businesses manage to—indeed, legally must—report within a year of their financial year end. Surely this is not impossible for a nation state in reporting its greenhouse gas emissions. This is an important area for management action, for the Government’s action and policy, and for keeping decision-makers and the public up to date and fully involved in the outcome of those reports and that emission reporting. I beg to move.