§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress towards implementation of the Kyoto agreement. [40125]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 13 March 2002]: Agreement at the climate change talks in Bonn and Marrakesh in 2001 on the detailed rules for implementation of the Kyoto protocol opened the way for ratification and entry into force of the protocol. In order for the Kyoto protocol to enter into force, it must be ratified by at least 55 countries, including countries accounting for at least 55 per cent. of industrialised countries' emissions in 1990. Without US participation, it is essential for both Russia and Japan to ratify as well as the EU.
A European Community decision to ratify Kyoto was adopted on 4 March. This paved the way for the UK and the other EU member states to complete their own ratification procedures. On 7 March, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made a statement to the House setting in motion the process of UK ratification. Once the protocol has been before Parliament for 21 sitting days, the Foreign Secretary will be in a position to sign the ratification instrument and will do so on or shortly after 19 April. For legal and presentational reasons, the European Community and each of its member states have agreed to deposit their instruments of ratification with the UN Depository simultaneously. Since entry into force of the protocol will occur only 90 days after the prescribed number of ratification instruments have been deposited, the aim is to do this by early June at the latest to allow entry into force by the World Summit on Sustainable Development. We are encouraging other countries to work to this deadline.
The UK is making strong progress with implementing its climate change programme which we estimate could reduce our emissions by 23 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. This is significantly over and above our 12.5 per cent. Kyoto target.
The UK has set a domestic goal to exceed this target through the measures set out in the Government's Climate Change Programme, published in November 2000. This aims to cut CO2 emissions alone by 20 per cent.—we are well on course to achieve this and shall continue to evaluate our progress regularly. Measures set out in the UK Climate Change Programme aim to drive emission reductions over the next decade and into the future. Some examples include: the climate change levy, a new Energy Efficiency Commitment, an obligation to increase the production of energy from renewable sources by 10 per cent. by 2020 and an emissions trading scheme which is due to go live in April.