A very chilly morning. Into the park for my morning constitution and then to the Commons. A strong coffee and bacon sandwich set me up for the day, after which I wandered across the corridor to CR 16 for another session of our Defence Committee. Today we took evidence from two academics on climate change, taking into account how the MOD could better measure and report its carbon emissions, decide which issues are particularly relevant to defence and what the MOD needed to do to better prepare for the more demanding reductions in emissions that will be needed during Epochs two and three. The first panellist was Dr Stuart Parkinson, who is Executive Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility, a UK-based organisation with about 700 members from across the science, engineering and related professions. He began his career as an engineer working in the military technology industry before studying for a PhD in climate science. He has worked as a researcher and campaigner, mainly on climate, energy and security issues, for over 30 years. A recent focus has been military carbon emissions, and he has published several reports on the issue, as well as co-authoring a piece in leading science journal, Nature. He has also been an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The second panellist was Linsey Cottrell, who is the Environmental Policy Officer at the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), which is a UK charity focusing on the environmental impacts of conflicts. She is a Chartered Environmentalist and worked in the environmental consultancy sector for 25 years, before joining CEOBS in 2019. At CEOBS, Linsey has worked on military greenhouse emissions and supporting the integration of environmental protection in humanitarian mine clearance and disarmament programmes. She is an experienced environmental practitioner, including environmental risk assessment, contaminated land, environmental due diligence, and environmental impact assessment. She was also a trustee of the UK’s Institution of Environmental Sciences from 2016 until 2022. So, two impressive panellists with able minds, but little pragmatism when it came to defence. You must watch the 90 minute session on Parliament TV yourselves to gauge our view. A sandwich lunch at my desk followed, before I headed to PCH for a private meeting of the No Turning Back group, run by Sir John Redwood. Why this MP is not the Chancellor, I have no idea. He is the only MP appropriately qualified for the job and is a Conservative to boot. A win, win, surely! Anyway, Sir John's assessment of the future is pretty gloomy and, like many of us, is calling for tax cuts to stimulate growth. Several votes came at about 1800.