§ 26. Mr. JackTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on those countries who are signatories to the Kyoto agreement and whose carbon dioxide emissions are increasing. [13090]
§ Mr. MeacherAs of 28 September, there were 84 signatories to the Kyoto Protocol. Nearly 40 of these are developed countries with emissions reduction or limitation targets. Carbon dioxide emissions in about two thirds of these countries increased between 1990 and 1999, which is the most recent year for which data are available, but total emissions from developed countries (including the US) were about the same as in 1990.
The Protocol gives developed countries considerable flexibility as to how they meet their Kyoto targets, including using international emissions trading and projects to reduce emissions in other countries to supplement domestic action. The Protocol also allows countries to count increased carbon uptake by forests and soils (so-called "sinks"), and to make reductions across a basket of six greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide.