Clause 16
Climate Change Bill [Lords]
6:00 pm
Phil Woolas (Minister of State (Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Oldham East and Saddleworth, Labour)
The right hon. Gentleman makes some very good arguments. In addition, I use the example of the evidence cited in the Stern review about the United States acid rain programme, which the right hon. Gentleman and others will recall. Allowing for banking between phases of that programme helped to deliver early reductions and improved participants’ efficiency. The evidence suggests that, because of the ability to bank from the first phase into the second phase, the emissions reduced in phase 1 were twice that required to meet the cap.
I take the arguments of the hon. Member for Northavon. They are slightly purist, but I do not criticise him for that. He is right to press the issue, but in practice it makes sense, from experience and from analysis, that we allow some give and take.