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Climate Change Bill [HL]

I am on a similar tack. In opposing the Question that Clause 37 stand part of the Bill, we seek clarification of the precise extent to which trading schemes will apply. We on this side of the Committee are uncomfortable leaving such complicated and significant portions of the Bill to regulatory fiat. Will the Minister tell the Committee how these trading schemes will work? Is the list of activities, as stated in the Bill and to which the trading schemes apply, exhaustive? The list is unclear. Indeed, it could be interpreted that any activity of any kind falls under a trading scheme. Indeed, does this extend to individuals and to personal consumption? Will individuals be made part of a trading scheme for using, "““materials in whose production energy was consumed””?" After all, that implies any material at all. That is surely not the intention of the clause but it may be construed that way. The whole clause needs greater clarity. Will the Minister take us through the trading scheme process? Can he explain precisely what sort of activities will be included and what sort of businesses will be affected? How will this relate to the Government’s own activity? How will individual departments fit their carbon budgets into the major scheme of things? Where will a businessman find a mechanism to assess the activities that might cut carbon emissions, and indeed generate credits that could be traded? Will the Minister make clear the intention behind the trading schemes? Are they intended to act as a way of encouraging a reduction in emissions? If so, will the Government regulate them to ensure that this happens? In essence, will the Minister indicate the degree to which he sees the Government intervening in trading scheme markets?