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Climate Change Bill [Lords]

I note from the clock that we have spent three hours on the first group of amendments; we have five such groups and only five hours of debate. I propose not to respond to all the issues raised, but just to some of the most direct ones that were put to me. The hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) asked about the definition of international aviation and shipping. We have not yet defined it, but there is a provision in the Bill whereby we will be able to provide it in due course. We will, of course, consider all possibilities. The hon. Gentleman also effectively criticised us in saying that this is a framework Bill whereas we really need to know what is going to be done to put it all in place. I remind him that as soon as is reasonably practicable after we have set our carbon budgets, we shall have to publish a report saying exactly that: what we will have to do in order to meet those carbon budgets. That is in clause 13, as currently drafted. The right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) raised many interesting points. He focused chiefly on shipping, which he suggested should be dealt with separately. The Bill does allow us to treat aviation and shipping separately, for precisely the reasons that he gave. The hon. Member for Angus (Mr. Weir) made a similar point. The right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal questioned our commitment to working with the International Maritime Organisation. I referred earlier to the amount of energy we had put into working with the IMO, and how we had pushed forward the work being done. As I said then, we have made a voluntary contribution of £50,000 to the funding of a study of the important subject of greenhouse gas emissions from ships. I assure the right hon. Gentleman that we are on the case and will continue to press it, because we understand how important it is. At times this evening, it seemed as though Members had never flown and did not intend ever to fly in the future. I must tell them that aviation currently accounts for 6 per cent. of our emissions, and that shipping accounts for just over 1 per cent. We must keep in proportion the contribution that each makes to our economy and the cost in terms of emissions at this time. We know that there will be huge increases in the future, but we must understand where we are now. Of course, it will take time for progress to be made.