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Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 67: 67: Clause 12, page 6, line 24, at end insert— ““( ) The statement must be prepared and approved by the Committee on Climate Change.”” The noble Lord said: This group of amendments follows on from our previous debate. In moving Amendment No. 67, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 81 and 90. These amendments do involve not parliamentary procedure but the climate change committee. They form the other part of the triangle. I hope our concepts are clear; they are part of a structural system for getting agreements, consensus and action. We feel that the statement that the Secretary of State is to lay before Parliament should be prepared by the climate change committee. It is important that the statements reporting on UK emissions—for example, whether the budgets have been met—are prepared by the people who are best qualified to assess success or failure and the experts of the committee. We have said all along that we feel that we must leave the science to the experts. Allowing the climate change committee to prepare the statement depoliticises the process and fosters the credibility of the reporting mechanism. The independence of the committee ensures that a report that might be critical of the Government gets aired appropriately and without the spin that might occlude our idea of how far we really are from our goals. Placing a duty on the climate change committee to prepare the statements ensures that the Government do not have too much control over how they are being assessed on how well they are reducing carbon emissions. I beg to move.