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EU: Emissions Trading System (EUC Report)

As it is nearly two and a half hours ago that I moved that we consider the report, we have considered it and considered it right properly, so to speak. At this stage, I shall say very little. I shall underline only three things. Carbon capture and storage is critical. At Copenhagen, the danger is that whatever is agreed will be presented as a success. Whether it is a success in reality is another matter. I have to say that I am a little sceptical about the extent to which we will finish up with a robust agreement at Copenhagen. Finally, there is the need to get a proper market working, to have auctioning across the board and to bring other sectors into the ETS. Those are the key factors in this area. I thank the Minister for his comments and, as I said earlier, for the Government's reply to our report, which we welcomed. I also thank the members of the sub-committee, who worked so long and hard on the report. If there was ever a learning experience—was that the phrase?—it was not really phase 1 of the ETS but the first dozen meetings of our committee, as we tried to go from a basic level of zero knowledge to a passable awareness of the main issues. For that, we have to thank—this is not just for form’s sake; it is a real debt of thanks—the witnesses who came before us, who were enormously patient in explaining things in a way that some of us with decaying competences could understand; our specialist adviser, Alyssa Gilbert; and the formidable home team of Julia Labeta and Alistair Dillon. All of them helped us to move from negative knowledge—which, if there is such a thing, we started with—to at least an appreciation of some of the main issues. There are some real unintended consequences and perverse factors lurking in the undergrowth that we have not identified. I thank the two members of the committee who were not members of the sub-committee. We benefited enormously from their breaking the tradition by coming to contribute. There is, of course, another tradition in these debates; every member of the committee gets up and praises the wisdom, diplomacy, forbearance and skills of the chairman of the committee. That is a very good tradition, but on that point I will sit down. Motion agreed.