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Climate Change Bill [Lords]

We welcome the amendments with great pleasure. Their inclusion is a considerable asset to the Bill, and we hope that they will go some way to removing the remaining Achilles heel of the Bill: the fact that there was nothing to prevent 100 per cent. of our carbon reductions from being made on the international carbon markets, without the attendant economic benefits accruing to the United Kingdom. We are pleased that the Government have agreed that there will be a limit on the carbon units that can be purchased from abroad and that, in doing so, they will take into account the advice of the independent Climate Change Committee. We thought it quite appropriate that the Committee should be used in that way, and we are pleased that the Government have accepted that. We have long argued that the Bill represents a crucial opportunity for the United Kingdom to lead the world not only in legislation but in a jump to a low-carbon economy, with all the benefits that that will bring. It is clear that United Kingdom leadership is helping to influence others. Today, President-elect Barack Obama said at a climate summit being hosted by Governor Schwarzenegger in California:"““My presidency will mark a new chapter in America's leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process.””" He continued:"““We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 per cent. by 2050.””" There should be great pride in this country that the new President of the United States is following a lead that has been taken here. The amendment makes our domestic ambition clearer and acts as an important boost to those seeking greater investment certainty in the United Kingdom's green technology market. The facts and figures on the opportunities of the new energy economy will not be lost on Members. Globally the overall value added to the low-carbon energy sector could be as high as $3 trillion a year worldwide by 2050, and the green economy could employ more than 25 million people in jobs by that time. President-elect Obama says that he wants 5 million jobs in that sector in the United States. The question before us is how much of that new economy will be based in the UK. The lack of clarity that surrounded carbon trading in the Bill jeopardised Britain's opportunity to maximise its potential in that regard. The amendments are certainly not the answer to all our problems, nor will they herald a new economic age on their own, but they will give greater clarity and market certainty, and for that reason, we welcome their inclusion in the Bill.