Clause 1 - Sustainable energy policy
Sustainable Energy Bill
3:00 pm
Ms Sue Doughty (Guildford, Liberal Democrat)
We have a strong case for further consideration and taking the opportunity that an extra week will give us to get a compromise. I understand where the Minister is coming from in wanting to deliver on the Bill as a whole, although I do not necessarily agree with his points about targets. The Bill is achievable with targets and it should be achieved with targets, but one of our difficulties is identifying those targets.
I am reminded of last August's summit, where one of the big objectives that all the Governments hoped for was setting global targets on renewable energy. There was a fudge on that, however. We did not get time-bound targets, and we could not even define renewable energy because a range of countries could not agree on what is renewable. One can understand the problems, even though we might have wished that they had been able to sort them out ahead of that very important gathering.
The reality is that, as one of the leading industrial and economic nations, we have a responsibility to set and achieve our targets. That is what the Bill seeks to do. It is a good Bill. It pushes renewables forward, which is good for Britain. It is good for our industry, our jobs and our environment.
Some measures are good in relation to fuel poverty and social change, which is just as important, as the Minister has pointed out, but there is a problem with the Bill. There is inconsistency with the White Paper, which talks about annual reporting and targets. At a Smith Institute seminar at No. 11 Downing street on 2 April this year, the Minister said:
''It is crucial to deliver on the renewables target.''
At the New Statesman lecture at 1 Birdcage walk on 4 June—the same day that the Government told us that our amendment to clause 1 was unacceptable—the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry said:
''We included the target''—
of a 60 per cent. reduction in CO?2? emissions by 2050—
''as one of the overriding goals of our energy policy.''
There are targets all over the place for what the Government want to do. I could go through the details in the White Paper, but I do not think that that is necessary at this stage because we have established that point. I strongly urge the Minister to do what the Minister for the Environment did yesterday: look again and see whether compromises might be reached.
When we were discussing the Municipal Waste Recycling Bill, the Minister for the Environment said that we would have not four sorts of waste, but two, which gave a huge boost to the whole debate—it is not perfect, but that took us a long way and set some worthwhile standards.
I hope that this Minister will look at the clause again to see what can be done not only to make progress on renewables and sustainable energy, but to do so in a visible way. When things are wobbling off course, we can have another look at them. There have been many practical recommendations on adjusting targets if they are not right, and I think that we have a long way to go. I hope that he will think again.