§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in the last year towards meeting the Kyoto targets; and if she will make a statement. [163595]
§ Mr. MorleyThe UK's target under the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 12.5 per cent. below base year levels by 2008–12. (The base year is 1990 for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and 1995 for fluorinated compounds.)
UK emissions in 2002, the most recent year for which final data are available, were 15.3 per cent. below the base year level. Provisional estimates made by my Department suggest that in 2003 UK emissions were between 14 and 15 per cent. below those in the base year. The increase on the previous year was linked to greater consumption of coal relative to natural gas for electricity generation. We believe on the basis of projections, including the effects of policies under the UK Climate Change programme, that the downward trend in emissions will be resumed, and that the Kyoto target will be met.
The European Community's target under the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent. below the base year level. In 2001, the last year for which data is available, EC emissions had decreased by 2.3 per cent. from the base year level.