§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and rural Affairs if she will make a statement on schemes for emissions trading which are 901W compliant with EU legislation on emissions trading, with particular reference to the (a) energy and (b) aviation sectors.[143060]
§ Mr. MorleyThe EU Emissions Trading Scheme is due to start in 2005 and will cover carbon dioxide emissions from certain industrial activities throughout the EU, including from the power generation sector. The UK is on course to meet the deadline of the end of the year to introduce the Regulations that will implement this scheme in the UK.
The first phase of the scheme runs from 2005 to 2007. The scheme can be expanded in future phases to include other gases and industrial sectors. The European Commission is required to report to the European Parliament and Council by June 2006 on, inter alia, how and whether the scheme should be expanded to other sectors, including transport.
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what studies the Government has made of(a) nitrogen oxides and (b) sulphur oxides trading schemes in those countries where such a scheme is operating. [143280]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government are aware of a number of emissions trading schemes around the world, including those covering nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides such as the US Acid Rain Programme and the RECLAIM programme for nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide emissions in the Los Angeles basin. The consultants that worked on the UK's National Allocation Plan for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme had previously studied these programmes in the US.
Defra is currently drafting the implementing regulations for the EU ETS and while doing so officials have assessed emissions trading schemes in other countries, including those mentioned above, to find examples of best practice in other schemes.