Decarbonisation

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere Excerpts

Thursday 13th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The consultation only closed at the end of last month, so the noble Baroness will need to give us a bit of time to analyse the hundreds of responses that we received. It is a complicated issue, and we of course understand the desire for quicker action, but there is a whole range of factors to be taken into account. We have to be very careful not to indulge in some form of green protectionism, where we incentivise lower-standard products against others that are better performing. Across a whole range of sectors and procurement areas, it is a complicated issue that deserves to be studied properly.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Con)]

My Lords, the essence of climate change is that it is global and does not recognise borders. It is very disappointing that we have so many calls for responses that are essentially protectionist, introverted and selfish. Will my noble friend confirm that, just because our allies in the United States—and indeed in the European Union—are going down the road towards protectionism, carbon adjustment taxes and so on, this country will not disadvantage itself or raise the price of the green technologies that we need to combat this global problem?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My noble friend has been steadfast for many years in his support for free trade—a cause that I manifestly agree with. But it is a complicated issue. It looks as though the EU and US are going down the road of carbon adjustment mechanism taxes, but, as I said in my Answer to the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, it is a complicated issue. For instance, do we want to incentivise the installation of poorer-quality solar panels that may be constructed with lower carbon intensity, or better-quality solar panels? That is one example of millions that I could give.