My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness for her amendment, which would require the joint fisheries statement to include a specific statement setting out how the fisheries administrations’ policies contribute to the achievement of the climate change objective. The Government agree that the joint fisheries statement should include such a statement, and I will take this opportunity to expand on where this is already covered in the Bill.
The existence of the climate change objective in Clause 1 means that fisheries administrations must already set out, in the joint fisheries statement, their policies for achieving or contributing to the climate change objective. These must include policies addressing the adverse effects of the fish and aquaculture sectors on climate change and for adapting those sectors to its impact in the future.
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For example, historically funding has been used to support energy-efficiency improvements in fishing vessels. Future policy could include measures to improve our science to take account of the impacts of climate change on management decisions or, as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, referred to, measures to protect “blue carbon” habitats such as seagrass, which are essential for carbon sequestration. I therefore assure the noble Baroness that the Bill’s climate change objectives and its provisions on a joint fisheries statement already ensure that this sort of measure is taken into account.
On Amendment 53, I am pleased to have this opportunity to make it clear that the UK is proud to be at the forefront of climate change policy globally. We have legislated to commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and we have the privilege of hosting the next UN Climate Change Conference of Parties. The Government are fully mindful of and deeply committed to their obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and to all international agreements on climate change to which the UK is a signatory. I say to my noble friends Lady McIntosh and Lord Randall and the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, that the Fisheries Bill contributes to our ambitions for global leadership on climate change; indeed, I understand that the fisheries-specific objective in the Bill is a global first. I have outlined some of the policies that might be included in the joint fisheries statement to help us achieve this objective.
As my noble friend Lord Caithness referred to, in addition to the measures in the Fisheries Bill, I assure the noble Baroness that the Secretary of State already must comply with the Climate Change Act in carrying out his functions. The duty to achieve net-zero emissions contained in that Act does not rest solely with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It is incumbent on the whole Government. That Act already creates a clear and legally binding framework for delivering on that duty.
Under the Climate Change Act, the Government already must set a series of legally binding carbon budgets, marking a trajectory for decarbonising the economy. The Government are also required to publish plans setting out how carbon budgets will be met, as well as national adaptation plans that set out the measures the Government intend to take to adapt to climate change. This framework already integrates all parts of the UK economy, including fisheries and aquaculture activities, both in terms of the net-zero target and in the statutory national adaptation plans. Similar frameworks already exist in the devolved Administrations under their own legislative and policy frameworks for addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation.
As noble Lords would expect, there is a wide range of government plans and policies in place to decarbonise the economy; where appropriate, these already touch on the fishing sector. As my noble friends Lord Caithness and Lady McIntosh mentioned, fishing vessels account for around 10% of domestic shipping emissions. Last summer, the Department for Transport published the Clean Maritime Plan, which sets out a national action plan to take the UK maritime sector as a whole towards the Government’s vision of zero-emissions shipping by 2050. Aspects of fishing and aquaculture activity also involve energy consumption from the national grid; for instance, in seafood processing. The Government’s Clean Growth Strategy sets out in detail plans to decarbonise our national energy system.
It is the Government’s position that it is right that fishing be integrated into this existing framework under the Climate Change Act, and that we should not create a duplicatory set of plans and proposals under the Fisheries Bill. However, we recognise that there is a legislative gap in terms of how climate change considerations are specifically factored into fisheries management. It is this gap that the Bill, as drafted, would address through the joint fisheries statement—a statement that already will be subject to statutory consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.
The noble Lord, Lord Krebs, asked about climate change. As stated in the national adaptation programme adopted under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science —CEFAS—and the Environment Agency will continue to develop methods to improve stock assessments and to quantify and manage human and natural impacts on fish populations.
Both my noble friend Lady McIntosh and the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, are right in referring to the trinity of the Agriculture Bill, the Environment Bill and the Bill before your Lordships tonight. The Environment Bill, which has been introduced in the other place, will enshrine environmental principles in UK law for the first time. Ministers must have due regard to these principles when making policy. This includes fisheries and aquaculture policy. The Environment Bill also establishes the office for environmental protection, which will be able to investigate alleged serious breaches of environmental law by public authorities and take legal action where necessary. For example, the OEP could scrutinise the actions of the Secretary of State in relation to the policies set out in the fisheries statements under Clauses 2 and 4, and the fisheries management plans under Clause 6, in so far as these relate to the environment.
A number of your Lordships, including the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, referred to fish coming north from seas to the south of us, and certain species moving further north. It is our responsibility as a nation and across the world to adapt and see what we can do to mitigate climate change, which is why it is really important that this Bill, which is, as I say, a global first, sets climate change in its range of objectives. We need to ensure that there are vibrant fish stocks both for our diet and for the natural marine ecosystem, of which fish are such a vital part.
I hope that this explanation shows that the Government are seized of the imperative to address climate change. Given that the climate change objective is a new arrival in this Bill compared to past iterations, I hope that the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw her amendment. Climate change is a continuing imperative.