Climate Change (Hansard, 5 December 2002)

§ Harry Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has held with her EU counterparts on proposals to introduce legislation concerning climate change; and if she will make a statement. [84646]

§ Mr. Meacher
I have regular discussions with my EU counterparts on climate change issues.
Last year we agreed Council conclusions on the European Commission's communication on the European Climate Change Programme. More recently we have discussed the European Commission's proposal for a Directive to establish a Community greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. I will be discussing this again at the Environment Council on 9 and 10 December.
We are also discussing with the commission the preparation of legislation on reducing emissions of fluorinated gases (hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride) that also fall under the Kyoto Protocol.

§ Mr. Blunt
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the(a) schemes and (b) bodies her Department contributes funding to which are concerned with climate change. [85484]

§ Mr. Meacher
The main schemes for which my Department provides funding are the UK Emissions Trading Scheme the New Home Energy Efficiency scheme (or Warm Front) and the Community Energy Programme. The main bodies for which my Department provides funding are the Carbon Trust, the Energy Saving Trust, the Hadley Centre, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (core budget and trust funds), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Greentie and the OECD Annex 1 expert group.

§ Alan Simpson
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which of the sector associations party to a Climate Change Levy umbrella agreement have supplied her with information specified in Schedule 3 of those agreements; what the dates were of each supply; and which of those sector associations have supplied her with information specified in Part 2 of Schedule 3 of those agreements. [82871]

§ Mr. Meacher
Under clause 6.5 of the umbrella agreements, sector associations are not required to submit information specified in either Part 1 or Part 2 of Schedule 3 for the first target period until 31 January 2003, extended by agreement to 17 February. No such information has yet been supplied by sector associations, though data has been received for the single company agreement under paragraph 47 of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2000.