Queen’s Speech

Lord Prescott Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prescott (Lab)]

My Lords, I wish to address my remarks to one line in the Queen’s Speech, which states:

“My Ministers will also champion efforts to secure a global agreement on climate change”.

That statement is further defined in an advice note on the Bill, which refers to achieving,

“an international, legally binding, rules based agreement”.

I want to talk about that because it is an almost impossible task. I was actively involved in the Kyoto negotiations in 1997, when we achieved the first global agreement on climate change. Since then I have been involved in the discussions and negotiations right up to today, through the collapse at Copenhagen and, indeed, to the coming, very necessary agreement to be made in Paris in 2015. Although it had its limitations, the first global agreement was largely successful, but now we need to make sure that agreement is achieved in Paris. If we do not reach an agreement in Paris, the whole climate change negotiation and this particular piece of legislation will fall.

We all recognise that the world of 2014 is of course very different economically, politically and socially from the world of 1997. However, the global climate change problem continues to grow because of increasing carbon output. As the IPCC has pointed out, we are beginning to see a serious deterioration of our climate, an increase in world temperatures and more extreme weather events, as it predicted. This is a global problem requiring a global solution and consensus.

A major step forward has been taken through the recent agreement between the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, who were not signatories to the Kyoto formula; namely, the United States and China. Unfortunately, that agreement has not received the kind of attention it should, but as President Obama has made clear, a legal agreement on carbon changes cannot be achieved at the international level because he cannot get such an agreement through Congress. He has chosen to use his presidential powers to ensure that US domestic legislation sets out a legal framework, rather than pursue an international one. Indeed, China is taking a similar course of action. This is a departure from the Kyoto framework, which set out an international legal framework for the industrialised countries. This new agreement has to apply not to 40 countries but to 190, which will of course be much more difficult to achieve. I believe that the framework can be brought together through the EU negotiation system. There is such a big difference in the negotiating positions of these large continents that it threatens a further Copenhagen-style collapse, as happened in 2009. The best approach would be for the European Union to negotiate with China and America to secure a new climate change agreement for Paris.

Unfortunately, climate change is not a priority for the present Government or, indeed, for the European Union, which, committed though it is to an international legal framework, knows that it cannot be applied for the reasons I have explained. The June and September 2014 meetings of the Council of Europe do not have climate change on the agenda. Energy is the priority issue for those meetings, particularly a review of the circumstances around Russia and its gas supplies. The council will be talking about that issue, and climate change is to be left until next January. Given the circumstances of these negotiations, if this issue is left until the end of next January, it will be far too late to have any influence on any agreement to be achieved in Paris. The EU could change its position on this.

There is an alternative, which I have advocated and seen passed by the Council of Europe. Last Sunday, I put it before 60 nations at the GLOBE International summit conference in Mexico, and it was accepted unanimously. What you need to do is get each country to accept climate change legislation of the kind we have in this country and put the globally agreed targets into that legislation. No Government can then come along and change them unless they bring in further legislation. That will give a legal framework, imposed by domestic legislation. That is an obviously good compromise that Europe could produce. But it is not the Government’s position or the European Union’s position. Britain could play a part in changing it but, frankly, this Government have lost their credibility in Europe to make any kind of change or give any priority to this.

We must begin to debate this issue. Climate change is the biggest threat to this planet and the sustainability of what we have. Legislators need to raise their heads. After all, in finding agreements they have nothing to lose but incompetent Governments. Legislators here, everywhere and in the 66 nations that were in Mexico are agreeing to do that. It is time to think radically about it. It is time to make change. Above all, it is time to make an agreement.