HC Deb 23 March 1999 vol 328 cc154-5W
Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what research his Department has commissioned to study the level of halon 1202 emissions to the atmosphere; [77595]

(2) what action his Department will take to encourage the international community to include halon 1202 in the list of chemicals controlled by the Montreal protocol. [77594]

Mr. Meale

My Department commissions research at the University of East Anglia to analyse air samples from the archive at Cape Grim in Tasmania. They have made the first measurements of the atmospheric concentration of halon 1202 anywhere in the world. Although the concentration of halon 1202 is currently very low (0.05 parts per trillion), it is growing very rapidly, some 17 per cent. per year in 1998. We also commission routine measurements of the background concentrations of halons at Mace Head in the Republic of Ireland as part of the International Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment. Halon 1202 concentrations are currently below the limit of detectability of the instrumentation in place but instrument development is taking place to cover this substance.

As there is little information on the source of halon 1202 emissions, the United Kingdom and other Parties to the Montreal Protocol have requested the Protocol's Technical and Economic Assessment Panel and Science Assessment Panel to identify the source and availability of this substance and report back to the Parties by 2001. This information will enable Parties to take a decision to decide whether it is necessary to control this substance under the Protocol.

Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what action his Department is taking to help developing countries fulfil the Montreal Protocol ban on halon 1211 production by 2005; [77592]

(2) what steps his Department is taking to help the Chinese Government fulfil the Montreal Protocol ban on halon 1211 production by 2005. [77593]

Mr. Meale

China, together with other developing countries, is committed under the Montreal Protocol to phasing out the production and consumption of halons by 2010. Assistance is available for developing countries under the Protocol's Multilateral Fund to meet their commitments. To this end, US$ 62 million has been provided from the Fund to enable China to phase out halon production, as a result of which China has given a commitment to stop production of halon 1211 by 2006, four years earlier than required under the Protocol. The United Kingdom currently contributes in the region of £6.5 million per year to the Multilateral Fund.