I thank the noble Lord for his contribution. I am not 100% sure of the point that he is making. I agree with him that we have concrete commitments, but we have a well-defined track of a number of strategies heading towards those commitments. In the Bill we are talking about funnelling one small part of our R&D funding into a separate agency, while seeking to take novel, innovative approaches to research and development.

I have cautioned against placing this obligation in the Bill but that does not mean that it is unimportant for ARIA to have an awareness of these issues, as the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, articulated so forcefully. I am pleased that many noble Lords attended the briefing we held where my colleague George Freeman, the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, discussed this. It is not plausible that any appropriate CEO candidate for ARIA would be ignorant of the opportunities connected to net zero within research and innovation. There is a similar situation with regard to Amendment 5 and the sustainable development goals, raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle.

As a result of the ongoing discussions that we have had on this issue during the passage of the Bill, I am able to commit now that, as an alternative, ARIA will evaluate itself against the pillar of the 2021-25 greening government commitments most relevant to this amendment on mitigating climate change by working towards achieving our net-zero environmental goal. This would be included within the framework document; ARIA would therefore be required to consider this objective from its very first cycle of reporting and evaluation.

I also agree that it is through its projects, and its funding, that ARIA’s greatest contribution to our net-zero objectives will be made. I can therefore also commit that ARIA would have regard to its projects contributing to our climate change targets and environmental goals. This is distinct from the sustainability reporting framework and should sit alongside it as a broader obligation, rather than being part of that evaluation process. That consideration would again be included in ARIA’s framework document. In my view, that is the appropriate place for such requirements, which relate to the effective governance of the organisation and its alignment to wider public sector objectives, as it can be more readily updated to reflect changing circumstances or priorities.

The existing reporting requirements, as set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s sustainability reporting guidance, mean that environmental and social considerations are well catered for within existing public sector authority obligations. I hope that will reassure noble Lords that the statutory requirement for a specific ESG strategy, as introduced by Amendment 19 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, is unnecessary.

There are a huge number of possibilities here that I would be happy to discuss further, but I strongly believe that the effect of this amendment would not be productive for ARIA or our climate ambitions. I am grateful to all noble Lords for their contributions and thank the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, in particular for his engagement and correspondence on the subject and for acknowledging in a reasonable and productive way the concerns I have set out and the alternative I have proposed. I hope this outcome is productive and acceptable to all and that it will enable noble Lords to withdraw or not move their amendments.