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G8: 2008 Summit

My Lords, the Leader of the House will recall that the Prime Minister’s Statement, which she kindly repeated, explicitly said that the accord on cutting back carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 was part of an international agreement. Can she confirm, therefore, that in the absence of such an agreement covering all the major emitters which would have to agree drastic mandatory and enforceable cutbacks of their carbon emissions—which so far China and India have understandably and, in my judgment, quite rightly declined to do—there can be no question of the Government requiring this country to cut back drastically on its carbon emissions, which would cause great damage to our economy, to no conceivable purpose?