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Climate Change Bill [HL]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Lawson, may be unaware that this is my first entry into the Climate Change Bill as well. He described himself as a non-believer taking part in a religious ceremony. After my tour around the Department of Health, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Justice, I could perhaps best describe myself as an agnostic. However, although I have listened carefully to what the noble Lord has said regarding what the Bill is really all about, supported by the noble Earl, Lord Onslow, one cannot ignore the reports of the various bodies that have looked into these maters so carefully. For instance, the fourth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed overwhelming evidence of climate change. Its evidence was peer-reviewed by large numbers of expert scientists. It is indisputable that polar ice caps are melting—we can see that with our own eyes.