Dr. Peter Doran:

If members look at the papers I submitted for distribution to them, they will see that I have provided information on the membership of the Committee on Climate Change in the United Kingdom. The committee is currently headed up by Mr. John Gummer, a former UK Secretary of State for the Environment, who has, since leaving government, become very active in multilateral environmental negotiations. He has a well earned reputation for being a champion of ambitious climate change objectives, both at home and within the international system. It is my experience, in the context of the UK system, that the people chosen to sit on the body should be defined by their expertise. In other words, they should be recognised experts among their peers and, ideally, have an international profile. They should understand the political system and not necessarily be individuals who have come out of that system. At least some of them should have academic backgrounds, but there will also be a need for people who have a grasp of the likely economic impact of recommendations made. That is also part of the profile of those who have become members of the UK Committee on Climate Change. Some of these individuals worked with the Stern commission.

The key word I would use in this matter is "leadership". What is needed is people who embody ambition and have the respect and trust of the various sectors involved. In the context of the point I made about constructing a circuit breaker to depoliticise, to some extent, some of the toing and froing between the sectors and the Government, I would avoid creating some kind of a stakeholder group. What is required is people with expertise and authority who have access to the very best international research and can present challenging scenarios to each of the sectors and invite them to respond to them. In that way, the sectors could explore the limits of their genuine capacity to contribute to the long-term targets.

Will the Deputy repeat her second question? I am having difficulty reading my own writing.