Chlorofluorocarbons

HC Deb 25 July 1990 vol 177 cc357-8W

78. Mr. Paice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action the Government are taking in assisting developing countries to phase out the use of chlorofluorocarbons.

Mr. Trippier

I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development to the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) on 18 June, column392, and to the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Mrs. Clwyd) on 2 July, column 418.

81. Mr. Hague

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment by what date it is his policy that all non-essential use of chlorofluorocarbons in Britain should be phased out.

Mr. Trippier

Much of the non-essential use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has already gone. It is the Government's policy to phase out all CFC use by 1997 subject to an exemption if necessary for essential uses such as medical aerosols.

86. Mr. Norris

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the Government's target for reducing the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Trippier

We are negotiating within the European Community for the following targets: chlorofluorocarbons—50 per cent. cut by 1992, 85 per cent. by 1995, phase-out by 1997 subject to an exemption if necessary for essential uses such as medical aerosols; halons—50 per cent. by 1995, phase-out by 2000 except for agreed essential uses; carbon tetrachloride—an 85 per cent. cut by 1992, phase-out by 2000; and methyl chloroform—freeze by 1992, 30 per cent. cut by 1995, 70 per cent. by 2000, phase-out in 2005. These targets imply faster progress than the recently agreed changes to the Montreal protocol for all the substances except halons.

Mrs. Gorman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his Department's current estimate of the ongoing effect of chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer.

Mr. Trippier

My Department has asked the stratospheric ozone review group to report as soon as possible on the likely impact on the ozone layer of the tightening of the Montreal protocol agreed at the second meeting of the parties held in London last month. Our preliminary estimate is that, if all significant users of ozone-depleting substances ratify the amended protocol, chlorine loading in the atmosphere will peak at about four parts per billion in 1997, and fall to about three parts per billion by 2040. This fall would be significantly greater if use of HCFCs is phased out between 2020 and 2040, as envisaged in the resolution agreed at the meeting.

105. Mr. Bright

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received supporting the agreements reached at the London ozone conference in June on phasing out the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Trippier

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has recieved a number of representations supporting the agreements reached in London. He has also received a number supporting our call for a phase-out, within the European Community, of chlorofluorocarbons by 1997, subject to an exemption if necessary for essential uses such as medical aerosols.