§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress is being made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol. [157859]
§ Mr. MeacherUnder the Kyoto Protocol, the UK has agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent. relative to the 1990 level over the period 2008–12. The Government have recently published figures which show that in 1999 the UK's greenhouse gas emissions were 14.5 per cent. below 1990 levels. This represents a 6.5 per cent. reduction between 1998 and 1999.
504WThe Government have also published provisional estimates of carbon dioxide emissions in 2000. These show that emissions were 7.5 per cent. below 1990 levels in 2000, consistent with the general downward trend in emissions shown in the UK Climate Change Programme. However, emissions increased by about 2 per cent. between 1999 and 2000, mainly as a result of increased use of coal in power stations because of maintenance and repair at nuclear and Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power stations and higher gas prices towards the end of the year.
The UK Climate Change Programme, published in November 2000, sets out a range of policies and measures that could reduce the UK's greenhouse gas emissions to 23 per cent. below 1990 levels in 2010, significantly beyond the UK's target under the Kyoto Protocol.