4 April 2008
Climate Change Bill: update following House of Lords stages
The Climate Change Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Lords. We expect the Bill will proceed to the House of Commons very shortly, although the date for Second Reading there is still to be confirmed.
This note sets out how the Bill has changed during its passage through the House of Lords.
In response to the views expressed across the Lords, the Government brought forward a number of amendments to the Bill which were accepted. These include:[1]
1.A statutory duty for the Committee on Climate Change to review the level of the 2050 target, and report by 1 December 2008. Under the terms of reference to the review, published on 18 February, the Committee is also required to consider the implications of including other greenhouse gases and international aviation and shipping emissions in the targets and budgets;
2.A duty on Government to set out its expectations for progress in every year of the budgetary period, through an annual indicative range of what the net UK carbon account is expected to be. This provides increased annual accountability while maintaining the necessary flexible approach inherent in the five-year budget system;
3.A requirement on the Committee on Climate Change and Government to consider the sectoral effort required to meet the targets and budgets – the Government's report on proposals and policies for meeting a budget must include how different sectors of the economy will be affected, and when giving its advice on the budgets the Committee on Climate Change must identify sectors where there are particular opportunities for contributions towards meeting the budgets;
4.The removal of the upper limit (32%) to the 2020 target, meaning reductions in CO2 emissions of “at least 26%” by 2020 are required;
5.A requirement for Government to seek the advice of the Committee on Climate Change in an expanded range of circumstances, including in relation to determining the base year of non-CO2 greenhouse gases, and the rules for accounting for different types of carbon unit;
6.A requirement for Government to explain why if it is not following the advice of the Committee on Climate Change on targets, greenhouse gases and budgets to further increase the transparency and accountability of Government decisions;
7.Stronger sanctions for non-compliance through a requirement on Government to lay an action plan before Parliament explaining how it will make up for the excess emissions where a budget is missed;
8.New powers on adaptation to require public bodies (known as “reporting authorities”) to assess the risk of climate change to their organisation and set out action they need to take in response. A further amendment clarifies this by requiring Government to produce a strategy, within 12 months of Royal Assent, setting out the priority reporting authorities and the circumstances in which they will be directed;
9.The Government will be required to provide a mid-term review of progress on the implementation of its adaptation programme to Parliament. We also intend to provide further information to Parliament on an annual basis, for instance as part of annual departmental reporting;
10.Amendments to the provisions on waste reduction schemes will increase operational flexibility to local authorities, and the Government will be required to report to Parliament on each pilot scheme within 3 years of Royal Assent.
A number of opposition amendments were voted on and defeated in the Lords. These included:
- Increase level of 2050 target to 80% now – Peers took the view that this would pre-empt the review of the 2050 target by the Committee on Climate Change;
- Introduce single-point indicative annual/rolling annual milestones – this approach would be less flexible than the Government’s proposed indicative range, as single point targets are less responsive to the natural fluctuations in emissions between years as a result of the weather, for example;
- Include emissions from international aviation in the targets and budgets now – there is currently no internationally agreed methodology for allocating these emissions, and this approach would pre-empt developments in the EU concerning the inclusion of these emissions in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme;
- Adaptation report to explicitly cover damage to the environment and biodiversity – Government policies are developed and delivered within the overarching concept of sustainable development and consideration of these issues is already an implicit requirement of the relevant provisions in the Bill.
In addition, following a vote on the issue Peers agreed to make changes to the Bill in the following areas:
- Purpose clause relating the Bill to an existing objective to limit global temperature rise to 2oC;
- Placing a duty on the Prime Minister, rather than the Secretary of State, to lay before Parliament the report on proposals and policies for meeting carbon budgets;
- Including emissions from international aviation and international shipping in the targets or budgets within 5 years of Royal Assent or explaining in a report to Parliament why this has not been done;
- Limit on use of overseas credits, with 70% of effort required to come from domestic action;
- The creation of a sub-committee of the Committee on Climate Change to consider adaptation issues.
The Minister also agreed to accept an amendment concerning corporate carbon reporting, due to the strength of feeling on the issue in the House.
The Government did not support these amendments and is considering their implications in preparation for the Bill's consideration by the House of Commons.
Full papers, including amendments tabled and links to Hansard reports, can be found at This page also contains revised explanatory notes which reflect the changes made to the Bill in the House of Lords.
An updated Impact Assessment is available on the Defra website:
Climate Change Bill Team
Defra
Contact: or 020 7238 6780
[1] Further information on the package of Government amendments tabled in the House of Lords, including Terms of Reference for the Committee on Climate Change’s review of the 2050 target, is available from: