HC Deb 15 October 2001 vol 372 cc1060-1W
Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what targets her Department has set for reductions of(a) carbon dioxide and (b) greenhouse gas emissions for (i) 2010 and (ii) 2040; and if she will make a statement. [4011]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 13 July 2001]The UK's target under the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent. below 1990 levels over the period 2008–12. The UK Government have an additional domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. The Government have not yet set any targets for later years.

Ms Bridget Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what part the UK Government intend to play to meet the royal commission report on Environmental Pollution recommendations of a global 60 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide by 2050. [6228]

Mr. Meacher

The report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution recommends that the Government should now adopt a strategy that puts the UK on a path to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. from current levels by about 2050. The UK Climate Change Programme recognises that emissions reductions of 60 per cent. to 70 per cent. globally may be needed to avoid dangerous climate change, and that developed countries may eventually have to make even greater emissions reductions. Emissions reductions of this magnitude can only be achieved by international action involving a series of commitments of which the Kyoto agreement is but the first step. The Government have provided a clear signal of the UK's intentions by setting a domestic goal of reducing CO, emissions by 20 per cent. below the 1990 by 2010. This goal goes well beyond the UK's obligation under the Kyoto Protocol and signals the UK's commitment to the long term process. The measures that could achieve the 20 per cent. CO2 reduction are set out in the UK's Climate Change Programme published in November 2000. The Government are currently conducting a wider review of energy policy which

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Carbon dioxide (CO2) 164.4 165.5 161.4 157.2 156 1 153.7 159.0 152.2 152.8 149.4
Methane (CH4) 21.0 20.7 20.2 19.4 17.6 17.5 17.1 16.6 15.8 15.1
Nitrous oxide (N2O) 18.3 17.7 15.8 14.9 16.1 15.4 15.9 16.4 15.9 11.7
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) 3.10 3.23 3.37 3.52 3.77 4.15 4.44 5.03 5.50 1.69
Perflurocarbons (PFCs) 0.62 0.49 0.26 0.22 0.27 0.30 0.25 0.18 0.18 0.18
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) 0.20 0.21 0.23 0.24 0.29 0.31 0.35 0.34 0.35 0.36
Basket total 208 208 201 195 194 191 197 191 191 178
Percentage change from 1990 baseline1 -0.3 -3.4 -6.3 -6.9 -8.2 -5.5 -8.5 -8.6 -14.4
1 The 1990 baseline is the sum of 1990 totals for CO2, CH4 and N2O and 1995 totals for HFCs, PFCs and SF6 (208.4 million tonnes carbon equivalent).