State of Climate and Nature Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Deben
Main Page: Lord Deben (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Deben's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(2 days, 20 hours ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
I can be very brief in my response. I can confirm that, agree with the noble Baroness and thank her for bringing it up, because the costs of not acting are huge. We must do it and work with others right around the globe to achieve it. Our clean energy mission and moving into cleaner, greener jobs for this country will be a central part of that work.
Lord Deben (Con)
I congratulate the Government on this report and remind the Front-Bench spokesman that every previous Conservative Prime Minister, including Mrs Thatcher, would have understood that what the Government have said is right. The cheapest way to proceed is to go green. That is where the jobs will come from. If we hang behind, saying, “After you, Claude”, we will suffer, our industry will suffer and our businesses will suffer. It would be helpful if the Opposition consulted the Climate Change Committee or those who have spent their lives working on climate change instead of making statements which do not have a scientific basis. The science says quite clearly that what the Government are doing is right. I disagree with the Government on almost everything else that they are doing. They are dreadful on most things. On this, they are right and should be congratulated.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord for his very kind comments. He talked about science. It is worth pointing out that the Met Office published, alongside the Statement, State of the UK Climate 2024. That clearly shows that the UK’s climate is getting hotter and wetter, with more extreme weather events. We have also published several reports around protected landscapes targets, the outcomes framework and how we can unlock benefits for people. A lot of work is going on. It needs to come together if we are successfully to tackle the impacts of climate change so that we do not suffer more devastation in the future than it looks like are doing at the moment.