---

Sustainable Communities Bill

I want to speak briefly about amendment No. 43, which would leave out paragraph (j) of the schedule. The schedule may not survive the Bill’s passing into law, but I would like to tease out of my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd) his reason for believing that paragraph (j) is essential. It covers"““measures designed to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases””." I know that my hon. Friend, together with my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) are on the energetic wing of our party when it comes to climate change issues, whereas my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) and I are somewhere between my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood and Lord Lawson of Blaby on these matters. Having established our respective positions, it is fair to say that the Bill is primarily about making local communities sustainable, not about greenhouse gas emissions, which is a global issue and is more properly addressed in any climate change legislation. My concern is that almost any activity that helps make a community sustainable will increase CO2 emissions—employment, commerce, construction, farming and transport, for example.