Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2023
Debate between Shailesh Vara and Alan Whitehead(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Gary. Like the Minister, I commend the Committee for the huge turnout this afternoon to consider the SI. I am sure that is because everyone wants to hear at some length the Minister’s comments and, indeed, some of mine, but in case anyone is here because they think there might be a Division, I can assure them—I hope they do not leave now—that there will be no Division. Broadly speaking, we very much agree with these changes to the operation of the ETS. However, I have a number of questions about the detail of those changes, and I would like to put the SI in a bit of context. I am disappointed that that context is not better represented in the SI.
The context is not just that the UK ETS is up and running and requires minor amendments, but that it is rapidly diverging from the EU ETS. The divergence is such that, in October prices, the permit cost per tonne is £87 in the EU ETS, but £40 in the UK ETS. The EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement, which the UK freely signed, states:
“The Parties shall cooperate on carbon pricing. They shall give serious consideration to linking their respective carbon pricing systems in a way that preserves the integrity of these systems and provides for the possibility to increase their effectiveness.”
No action has been taken so far—[Interruption.]
