My Lords, I will be speaking to Amendment 286 in my name in this two-amendment group. My noble friend Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, who is following me, will speak to Amendment 288. You can take it as read that I am entirely behind that amendment as well.
I make no apologies for referring again to the New Zealand living standards framework which guides every decision of that nation’s Treasury. That is truly world-leading, and this amendment seeks to take us a long way towards catching up. The amendment might be taken as a continuation of my efforts to help the Minister convince the Treasury that it is operating on flawed assumptions. The Treasury currently acts as though it is there in the interests of that entirely artificial, thoroughly discriminatory and deeply flawed construct, the economy, rather than operating for the well-being and security of people and planet. This amendment would provide a legal framework for change. It is essentially the same amendment that was tabled in the other place by Green MP Caroline Lucas, where it attracted cross-party backing.
This morning I was at an international event talking about how the people are leading on climate and biodiversity crises, with businesses and Governments trailing behind. Our long slog on the Environment Bill—a reflection, as my noble friend said in our last session, of the way the Government have failed to provide the necessary steel in its contents fit for this desperately late year of 2021—means its timing is fortuitous, for today a report was released by the Institute for Public Policy Research, drawing on the views of citizen panels in the South Wales valleys, Essex, Aberdeenshire, Tees Valley and County Durham. All of them offered their views on how the country should reach net zero by 2050 via a series of panels held over 18 months.
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I go to the agreed conclusions of the Tees Valley and County Durham panel:
“Action to address the accelerating climate and nature emergencies can be about more than staving off the worst; it can be about imagining a better world which we can build together. A future where people and nature can thrive, with resilient local communities, good jobs, successful low-carbon businesses, and where inequalities are reduced and opportunities offered to all. A future where progress is measured”—
I emphasise “measured”—
“by the quality of life, security and wellbeing of all citizens as well as the health of our natural world.”
What this is talking about is reprogramming the economy. In practical terms, there are more than 100 recommendations in the IPPR report, ranging from upgrades to local public transport and policies to make it free by 2030, with free bus travel by 2025 as a first step. It also calls on the Government to launch a huge annual green housing scheme, similar to its flagship Help to Buy scheme, to help people replace their gas boilers with green alternatives and make energy efficiency improvements. It urges Ministers to introduce a “right to retrain” scheme for a just transition.
So it is deeply disappointing that we heard today that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is rejecting calls to include a VAT cut for green home improvements, which is the kind of thing that this amendment would surely point towards. This is in the context of our buildings continuing to account for 14% of our carbon emissions, and we are seeing precious little sign of progress. In a letter seen by the Guardian, the Treasury Minister said:
“The government has no plans to change the VAT treatment”
because
“this would still not bridge the price gap with gas boilers”.
No one is saying that this should be the only measure, but it is certainly a no-brainer.
Turning directly back to the amendment, proposed subsection (3) consists of a long list of the environmental impacts to be considered. In short, it covers the planetary boundaries that we are already exceeding, are at risk of exceeding or, frighteningly in some cases, still do not know where we are but know we are at risk. I draw attention particularly to sub-paragraph (viii) about nitrogen flows, where we are—on one calculation at least—the nation most exceeding those planetary limits and that needs to reduce them by 89%. That, of course, is of intimate concern to the Environment Bill,
as it is wrapped up in artificial fertiliser use, factory farming, soil erosion and the management of sewerage. Phosphorus, on 85%, is only marginally less bad and tied with many of the same issues. Proposed subsection (4) addresses the need for new goals, new vision and indicators—something that New Zealand has already done. But, to put it directly in our terms, it makes clear the need to use these in the Central Government Guidance on Appraisal and Evaluation produced by the Treasury, otherwise known as the Green Book.
You do not have to rely on the people to identify the need for this amendment. In a recent report for the OECD, a group of leading economists warned that patterns of economic growth are now generating “significant harms”, including
“rising inequality and catastrophic environmental degradation.”
The report calls for a paradigm shift in the way developed countries approach economic policy—so that, instead of focusing on GDP, they prioritise sustainability, human well-being, inequality reduction and the strengthening of economic resilience. The economists go on to call for a new metric, such as gross ecosystem product, to enable countries to go beyond GDP and integrate the value of nature into all decision-making.
Noble Lords can, of course, read for themselves the details of the amendment, but I draw attention to one final element of it. Proposed subsection (5)(b) says that, in drawing up the strategy, the Government must obtain, publish and take into account the advice of
“a nationally representative citizens assembly”.
If the Government want to be world-leading, or at least in the front of the pack, there it is: a method of direct deliberative democracy, by engaging the people in this dreadfully urgent task of tackling the climate emergency, nature crisis and all the pressing environmental and social issues we face. It has a proven pedigree internationally. Look at the progress in Ireland on gay marriage and abortion law, the experiments run here on local issues in England, our national Climate Assembly and the examples with which I began this speech.
I have no doubt that the UK will eventually get to implementing a system something very like this amendment proposes. But we cannot wait. We need it now. I thank all the other noble Lords taking part in this debate, and I look forward to the Minister’s response.