Over the past 14 years, 435 bills have been defeated in the house of lords, one of which is the ‘Climate Change act 2008(2050 target amendment) order 2019’.
This bill proposed, that because of recent developments in the scientific knowledge surrounding climate change, the Secretary of State suggests that the initial act (of 2008) needs to substitute “80%” to “100%”,when regarding the net UK carbon account (the net amount of UK emissions of targeted greenhouse gases for a period adjusted by the amount of carbon units credited or debited to the account). Thus ensuring the net UK carbon account will be lower than the 1990 baseline.
The defeat of this bill (with a majority of -39), however, was justified as the government had not explained how the net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050 will be met and did not include how greenhouse gases from international aviation or shipping would impact the target.
This significance of this defeat wasn’t great as it was perceived as a non-fatal motion, meaning that it didnt stop the motion from becoming law, it was only used by the house of lords to indicate concern.
Back in June the (then) prime minister, Theresa May, was a stronger advocate for this bill even though, at that time, no full impact assessment had taken place. The instrument did, however, come into effect on the 27th of june 2019.
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