Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Hansard, 6 May 2004)

§ Tim Loughton
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she(a) has in place and (b) is proposing further to reduce UK emissions of carbon dioxide between 2002 and 2010. [169590]

§ Mr. Morley
The Climate Change Programme, published in 2000, sets out an integrated package of policies and measures to reduce the UK's emissions of carbon dioxide from all sectors of the economy. Policies in the programme include the Climate Change Levy which is helping to fund measures to promote better energy efficiency in business and the public sector; the UK emissions trading scheme; targets to provide 10 per cent. of the UK's electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2010; the Energy Efficiency Commitment requiring electricity and gas suppliers to help domestic customers to save energy and cut fuel bills and; reforms to vehicle excise duty and company car taxation to support the aims of the European Union (EU) voluntary agreements with car manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency by at least 25 per cent. on 1995 levels by 2008–09.
The Climate Change Programme will be reviewed later this year, which will provide an opportunity to introduce new policies, or strengthen existing ones, if the conclusion is that more needs to be done to keep us on track towards our domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. below 1990 levels y 2010.
The 2003 Energy White Paper set out an ambitious long-term strategy for UK energy policy and real progress has been made towards implementation of the White Paper's commitments. "Creating a Low Carbon Economy—First annual Report on Implementation of the Energy White Paper", published on 26 April, sets out the progress made to date and summarises the practical steps already taken in pursuit of the longterm goals.
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On 26 April, the Government also published its Energy Efficiency Action Plan which details action to meet the energy efficiency commitments set out in the Energy White Paper. The Action Plan sets out a package of policies and measures that are expected to save around 12 million tonnes of carbon by 2010; a 20 per cent. increase on the Energy White Paper's commitment of 10 million tonnes.
Key new measures in the Action Plan include, increasing the activity levels for the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) over the period 2005–08 to be roughly double those under the current EEC, and the EEC to continue to 2011 with a review in 2007; a new commitment by central Government to procure only high standard (top quartile) buildings and; a commitment to consider ways to better communicate about climate change, raising awareness of the links between climate change, energy policy and the choices we make as individuals, businesses and public sector organisations.
Our combined heat and power (CHP) Strategy, published on 26 April, confirmed our belief that CHP has an important role to play in achieving our Energy White Paper aims and our continued aim towards our target of 10 gigawatts of Good Quality CHP capacity in the UK by 2010.
Policies and measures are also being developed at an EU level under the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP). These measures, which include the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, will complement measures being taken at a national level, and reduce emissions across all member states.

§ Norman Baker
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what changes she has made to the carbon dioxide reduction target relative to 1990 levels within the National Allocation Plan to implement the EU Emissions Trading Directive following discussions with the DTI. [167753]

§ Mr. Morley
Government are committed to the key principles for setting the total level of allowances to UK installations as set out in the draft National Allocation Plan (NAP) in January. The key principle of the UK allocation methodology is that the total level of allowances for the first phase will be less than the projected emissions of the UK installations covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. This reduction will be set on the basis that these installations would deliver a further 5.5 million tonnes CO₂ savings by 2010.
We have always said that there may be changes to the total level of allowances, published in the draft NAP in January, as a result of various factors including continued updating and refinements to the energy projections, reclassification of sectors, identification of additional installations and corrections to historical emissions data. The detail of these changes will be set out in the NAP to be published shortly.

§ Norman Baker
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what1654W assumptions have been made in respect of potential extra cuts in carbon emissions beyond those already anticipated in a business-as-usual scenario in setting the carbon dioxide reduction target relative to 1990 levels within the National Allocation Plan to implement the EU Emissions Trading Directive. [167754]

§ Mr. Morley
The energy projections used for calculating carbon dioxide emissions are driven by a number of key assumptions, which relate to economic growth, fossil fuel prices and population and industrial output. These assumptions incorporate the projected savings from the UK Climate Change Programme.
The total level of allowances set out in the National Allocation Plan also take into account an additional saving of 5.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide which emissions trading was envisage to deliver in the UK's Climate Change Programme by 2010.
In May, the Department for Trade and Industry intends to publish a working paper on the updated emissions projections, the energy and other assumptions underpinning them as they stood for use in the National Allocation Plan to be published shortly.

§ Norman Baker
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what weight was given to(a) the desired environmental outcome and (b) expected energy trends in determining the carbon dioxide reduction target relative to 1990 levels under the EU Emissions Trading Directive. [167756]

§ Mr. Morley
The EU Emissions Trading Scheme is central to our work to move towards a low carbon economy. In the draft National Allocation Plan, published on 19 January, we demonstrated the UK's commitment to tackling climate change and signalled our plans for an ambitious approach to begin from phase one of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. The draft plan committed us to reducing UK carbon dioxide emissions by 5.5 million tonnes beyond those measures already set out in the Climate Change Programme and we have no intention of going back on that commitment.
The expected energy trends were incorporated into the baseline for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and are currently being updated. The total level of allowances to be published in the National Allocation Plan shortly will reflect the most recent energy projections and the UK's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

§ Miss McIntosh
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the 20 per cent. cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010 she expects to be achieved through reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector. [160880]

§ Mr. Morley
The UK Climate Change Programme, published in November 2000, seeks to reduce emissions from all sectors of the economy. The Programme was intended to be flexible and cost effective and did not set targets for individual sectors.
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UK carbon dioxide emissions were around 165 million tonnes of carbon (MtC) in 1990. Reducing emissions by 20 per cent. will correspond to a reduction of around 33 MtC by 2010.
Policies in the Climate Change Programme to reduce emissions from transport include the EU voluntary agreements on carbon dioxide emissions from cars, backed up by changes to company car taxation and vehicle excise duty; the 10 year plan for transport and; sustainable distribution in Scotland and Wales. At the time the Programme was published, it was estimated that these policies could reduce transport emissions by a total of 5.7 MtC below the projected business as usual emissions for 2010 which would have reduced the projected increase in emissions from transport to around 2.5 per cent. above 1990 levels by 2010.
The Government are committed to reviewing the Climate Change Programme later this year, including the measures introduced to reduce transport emissions. The implications of the rolled forward strategy for transport, which the Government expects to publish in the summer after the conclusion of the spending review, will also feed into this review. The Department for Transport is currently consulting stakeholders on the UK's targets for the use of transport biofuels under the Biofuels Directive. Achieving 5 per cent. use of biofuels today would save around £1 million tonnes of carbon per annum—around three per cent. of overall road transport carbon dioxide emissions. To date indications are that the transport sector is not currently on course to deliver the level of carbon savings estimated in the UK Climate Change Programme. Details of this were outlined in the 10 Year Plan Progress Report.