Member

I said at the outset that I thought the noble Lord’s amendments were irrelevant, since local authorities already have a range of planning powers that could assist with carbon reduction. By the same yardstick, my amendment is also redundant, since we imposed all those duties on them in the Environment Act. My purpose here is simply to flag up that climate change is not the only game in town. Reducing carbon and nature recovery are two sides of the same coin. We hear and talk about climate change ad nauseam, whereas nature recovery, including trees, peat bogs and oceans, is more important and a solution to climate change. That is why I have tabled this amendment, which of course I will not force to a vote. I simply want the House and all noble Lords not to forget about the importance of nature recovery as everyone obsesses about climate change.