§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the implementation of the European Emissions Trading Scheme. [133256]
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§ Mr. MorleyThe EU Emissions Trading Scheme is due to start on 1 January 2005 and is one of the policies being introduced across Europe to tackle emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in order to combat the serious threat of climate change.
The Directive requires members states to implement the Scheme by 31 December 2003. We have consulted publicly on the UK's draft Implementing Regulations and will be continuing work on these in the coming months.
All member states are also required by the Directive to let the Commission have their National Allocation Plan by 31 March 2004. In order to meet this deadline we are intending to publish the first draft of our plan for consultation in early December 2003. The Plan will set out the overall cap on emissions for installations within the traded sector and the way that we propose to allocate this cap between industry sectors.
The UK are likely to be among the first to publish a draft National Allocation Plan. Defra are working hard with others and are confident that we will meet the deadlines involved. I believe that this provides a clear signal that the Government are committed to achieving its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2010.