---

Energy: Low Carbon Transition Plan

My Lords, when I saw the noble Lord, Lord Lawson, sitting there, I did not think that he would take a positive approach to this announcement. I certainly have been proved right on that. I do not agree with him at all. It is, in fact, a mistake to think that remaining as a high-carbon-emitting country is somehow an easier and cheaper option; nor do I accept his premise that the UK is alone in understanding that we need to move to a low-carbon world and that, to do so, decisions have to be taken. We believe that carbon budgets are the way in which to ensure that individual government departments develop their policies to ensure that they are consistent with a low-carbon economy. I would just say to the noble Lord that the recent G8 meeting—