Business: Greenwashing

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I know that my noble friend is very interested in this important subject; we have discussed it before. The problem we have is that many businesses make environmental claims about their sustainability and that others publish information in their annual reports—often voluntarily; there is, in some respects, no legal obligation to do so—so the question is about how investors can get transferability across different companies and compare one company against another. There may be a case for some standardisation and regulations in this space, but of course we need to look at the business impacts.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Hayman (CB)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The ASA has taken action against a number of companies, including one that made green artificial grass, over their environmental claims. I think this is a very real deterrent to businesses repeating unfair advertising, but I know that the CMA is looking at a number of different sectors: it has already published an investigation into the fashion sector and is moving its investigations on to other areas of the economy as well.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord mentioned that the Competition and Markets Authority has issued its green claims code, under which it has the power to take errant companies to court. Have any actually been taken to court?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Lord is right: the CMA published its guidance in September 2021. Enforcement of unfair claims and misleading advertising is a matter for trading standards. I am not aware of any claims that have been taken to court but, if there are any actions I can point him to, I will write to him.

Green Skills

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Wednesday 9th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We are working very closely with the retrofitting insulation industry. The noble Lord is aware that we are spending billions of pounds helping low-income families to upgrade their accommodation in the low-income private sector, social housing and through local authorities. This is a well-advanced programme, and we also have the ECO scheme which spends up to £1 billion a year on green retrofitting measures, so there is a lot going on this sector.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, over four decades ago there was a similar scheme to try and push green jobs, based on a fairly similar tripartite-plus system. It was not a great success, although it had a lot of support. Will the Minister ask his civil servants to see if there are any lessons to be learned from that experience that will make sure it works now?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for his suggestion based on his long experience in government. I will certainly pass on that suggestion to my ministerial colleague, and I am sure we would want to learn lessons from past experiences.

Climate Change

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Tuesday 29th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes a good point. Achieving our net-zero target will be a shared endeavour, requiring action from everyone across society. We will set out our approach to public engagement in the net-zero strategy. For many years the Government have been funding and running public workshops and deliberative dialogues, and the noble Baroness will be aware that, ahead of COP 26, we launched the Together for Our Planet campaign to further raise awareness.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, the Climate Change Committee has declared:

“The UK does not yet have a vision for successful adaptation to climate change, nor measurable targets to assess progress.”


Can we expect such a plan, and when?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I cannot give the noble Lord precise dates, but we are committed to publishing the strategy and plans that I mentioned earlier, which will be out later this year. We are currently finalising them within government. So I ask the noble Lord to be a little bit patient and wait for those documents.

Industrial Strategy: Local Growth

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Monday 26th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I agree that design and innovation are going to be key and crucial. We have a history in this country of taking good design and innovation and then not developing them into viable products led by British businesses. That is something that we need to correct, and our forthcoming innovation strategy will address many of these issues.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, in the earlier report, the council said that we should keep the spotlight on places whose productivity levels and growth rates were well below the national average. I know that the Minister shares my view and agrees particularly with this recommendation. What are the Government are doing to try to bring this idea into reality?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I agree with the noble Lord that productivity will be key to our success going forward. He and I come from part of the UK that needs to expand its productivity and key to that will be developing the skills agenda, which I set out in the previous answer.

Climate Change Committee: Carbon Budget Report

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Tuesday 16th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I agree with the noble Baroness that this is crucial work, and, as I said, the figures will be released in due course. If there is any further information I can release at the moment, I will of course write to the noble Baroness.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, the message from the Sixth Carbon Budget report is important but complicated. We need to take people with us if we are going to succeed. The message needs to be clearer and simpler. Will the Government use the resources at their disposal to re-present the case, so that it can be understood by the ordinary person and not only the expert?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I agree with the noble Lord that we need to engage not only experts or early movers in this technology but the public as a whole. He makes some good points, and we will engage the full resources of Government to make sure that this message gets across.

Sharing Economy

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

Part of the process of developing the industrial strategy is of course to bring in information from other departments on how major changes in the economy are affecting them. One of the things that we ensure when consulting business is that we always include the sharing economy element in those discussions. I will write to my noble friend about the hubs.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, it is 60 years ago today that Britain became a world pioneer when Her Majesty the Queen opened the nuclear power station at Calder Hall. Nuclear power has plugged our energy gap for the past 60 years. When will the Government try to have some extra innovation and look at wave power so that we can plug the gap in the energy demands of the future?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

As the new Energy Minister, I have been struck by the range of opportunities in energy. On nuclear, we have made the decision to go ahead with Hinkley and a potential whole new generation of nuclear power stations. We are looking at all these other areas and we have innovation expenditure. We will be sharing our thoughts further in due course—for example, in the context of the contract for difference decisions that are due in the coming weeks.