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Climate Change and SustainableEnergy Bill

I am particularly pleased to be called to speak on the Bill, because it does an awful lot to make us all more accountable for solving the problems of climate change. The Bill talks about the need for the Government to report to Parliament annually on greenhouse gas emissions, and that will be an extraordinary help in addressing the problem in a meaningful way. I am also pleased that the Chancellor will be put in a position in which he would need to have a tax policy to promote microgeneration. That is another important move in enabling us all to have an opportunity to get involved in the issue. I know from talking to my constituents that many people find it difficult to engage in, or talk about, the issue of climate change. When we look at the facts, we see that 42 per cent. of the CO2 emissions come from China and the United States. It is very easy to say that we cannot control that, that it is a matter for other people and that the problem will be dealt with by international policy. However, it is important that, through this debate, we say to all our constituents that climate change is not somebody else’s problem. We can all address the problem and make a meaningful contribution towards solving it.