Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)

My Lords, in concluding this group, I thank all noble Lords who have made thoughtful contributions on it. We are dealing with the impact of GB Energy and its activities on our environment. In my concluding remarks, I will briefly mention Amendment 118, in the name of my noble friend Lady Bloomfield, which was discussed previously and is closely tied to the same issues raised in this group. That amendment would create a statutory duty for GB Energy to behave in a way that looks to promote nature recovery. The British Ecological Society has found that nature-based solutions can help to resolve the problems of climate change by reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration. The alarming truth is that England is widely considered to be one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, following historic and ongoing declines. We must also note a point raised in the debate this afternoon: it is not just the deployment of wind farms or tidal technologies that causes environmental damage. If GB Energy is also set to decommission, as we have discussed, or to repurpose oil and gas structures, it must assess and mitigate the risk of this practice on the environment. As my noble friend Lord Fuller so rightly explained, GB Energy is a public company; it is only right that it acts in the public interest. I do not see why the Minister would disagree, but I thank him for his detailed response. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment standing in my name.