§ Mr. Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if the Government will support the Africa Group's proposals for a long-term approach to tackling global climate change; [25454]
(2) if the Government will initiate a legally binding international agreement to reduce emissions on the basis of the convergence of countries to equal per capita emissions rights. [25481]
§ Mr. MeacherThe United Nations Framework Convention on climate change is the body under which international agreement on tackling global climate change is reached, and a Protocol to the Convention containing legally binding targets for developed countries for the period 2008–12 was adopted in Kyoto in December 1997. The Government believe that future negotiation on targets should encompass developing countries over time, and convergence to equal per capital emissions rights is one of the approaches we will be exploring.