Climate Change: UN Conference

Viscount Ridley Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the right reverend Prelate is absolutely right that we need to show leadership. I am aware of the Royal Society’s recent publication A Short Guide to Climate Science and very much welcome its conclusions. It is an excellent and highly accessible summary of climate science and I recommend that those who are interested in the subject should read it. I would also like to assure the right reverend Prelate that this Government are absolutely committed to taking the lead and securing a science-led, binding agreement in Paris in December. We have worked very hard to ensure that other countries are working with us.

[Viscount Ridley (Con)]

My Lords, given that the heart of the Lima agreement was merely “an invitation” for countries to define a carbon dioxide reduction target and that “may” was substituted for “shall” throughout the key text, does my noble friend think that sending a delegation to Lima was really worth all that money and aviation fuel? I declare my energy interests as listed in the register.

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, I am always grateful for my noble friend’s interventions. I reassure him that to try to bring so many countries from across the globe to a meeting to discuss a point which currently affects us all is most important. Given that we know that sea levels are continuing to rise, polar ice continues to melt and we have increased global temperatures, we need to bring people to the table to discuss such important matters.