Schedule 1 - None
Climate Change Bill [Lords]
8:00 pm
Gregory Barker (Shadow Minister, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Bexhill and Battle, Conservative)
I shall speak to amendments Nos. 58, 59 and 62, which would change the nomination procedures and composition of the Committee on Climate Change. The adjustments that we propose would make the committee more independent, more scientific and better equipped to deal with the new responsibilities that have been given to it.
As the Bill stands, the committee seems too small to cope with those extra duties. Amendment No. 58 would increase its membership to ensure that the additional burdens could be covered adequately. We believe that a membership of seven is not quite sufficient. It is important to ensure that the committee is able to give due attention to those matters as well as to nominate people with relevant experience. We therefore believe that it is important to allow the option to increase the committee to no fewer than seven members and no more than 12.
Amendment No. 59 relates to the nomination procedure. To ensure the independence of the committee, we believe that approximately half of the appointments should be made by the Royal Society. That would depoliticise the committee, so that we did not end with a group of people potentially beholden to Ministers, political parties or special interest groups. I expect that there might be some criticism—