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Department of Energy and Climate Change

My Lords, first, I warmly welcome the comments of both noble Lords on the Statement. They set a very good foundation for the consensual way in which my right honourable friend the Secretary of State has today intimated he wishes to proceed. Given that we are talking about matters which fall to be dealt with immediately and have huge long-term impacts, I am sure that a consensual approach is the right way to go forward. I very much agree with the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, that the noble Lord, Lord Turner, has done an extraordinary piece of work. The balance of national interest is a nice judgment, and he will be very much missed from the Committee on Climate Change. I also wish to point out the outstanding work that he did in relation to pensions, of which of course I had experience as a pensions Minister. Indeed, the noble Baroness pointed out that with my current role I have now been round Whitehall quite a few times. I hope that that adds to what I bring to the job, as I think that experience within different government departments is helpful. One thing that I have learnt already is that, while much of the action has to take place internationally in the agreements that we reach, in relation to the energy industry and those who are concerned about the impact of climate change, there is also a job to be done within government in ensuring that there is commitment to this agenda and that it is driven by all departments. Again, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Teverson. I have a personal interest in this matter, although I bring no expertise. I remember being appointed the Department of Health’s green Minister in 1999. I attended meetings of green Ministers then and have continued to take an interest in the role that other sectors and other government departments can play in this hugely important agenda. ““Keeping the lights on and saving the world”” is a very apt description of what we are trying to do and I do not think I can better it. I shall bear it in mind when we come to debate the Energy Bill, the Climate Change Bill and no doubt the Marine Bill in a future Session of Parliament. I appreciate the welcome given to the decision to go for an 80 per cent target and the welcome for the feed-in tariffs. I suspect that we will still wish to hear what noble Lords have to say on Report before coming to a final decision about what amendment to put forward, so our debate—if it is not next week, it will be the week after—will be very important to us in that respect. Although I have not participated in the Energy Bill, I know that there have been very good and serious debates, and it is clear from my right honourable friend’s Statement that considerable attention has been paid to them by my department. In a sense, that is my answer to the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, who had a go at us for the way in which some details have come out. I understand her point. Fuel poverty is a very important matter. Although we have seen considerable progress and a reduction in the number of fuel-poor households, rising energy prices have had an undue impact on that number. As I said, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister announced a series of measures to provide some support in this area, together with support in terms of energy efficiency in individuals’ homes. I recognise that there is a long way to go but, in signalling his intent to the industry, I think that my right honourable friend has shown his determination to keep a very close eye on what is happening. The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, welcomed the decision to move from a 60 to an 80 per cent target. Certainly, it puts us in a stronger position to lead the debate internationally, where I am sure this country has a huge role to play. He said that the definition is all and that there was a risk that, if the definition was not right, there would be ways of getting round the target. I assure him that that is certainly not our intent. This is a very important Statement in respect of the Government’s determination to deal with these matters effectively, and we will want to ensure that a robust mechanism is put in place. I know that international aviation and shipping emissions have been the subject of considerable debate. I reiterate that our commitment to a long-term climate strategy includes aviation and shipping. The interim advice of the Committee on Climate Change included a recommendation that the scope of the Climate Change Bill should not be extended to international aviation and shipping. I think that that was very much to do with the problem of agreeing measurements, and therefore our approach is to exclude international aviation and shipping from the Climate Change Bill. However, I come back to the point that both noble Lords raised: of course we must keep the target under review in the light of emerging circumstances. I also understand that from 2012 international aviation is to be embraced within the European Emissions Trading Scheme. I hope that noble Lords will take that as an indication that it is not our intention simply to put aviation to one side; it is a very important factor in all of this. I thank both noble Lords for their very constructive comments on the Statement.