§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of the target for the reduction of carbon emissions on the overall competitiveness of UK industry. [153541]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Department has published a number of assessments of the impact of meeting carbon reduction targets on the competitiveness of UK industry. Modelling work undertaken for the 2003 energy White Paper looked at the implications of 20 per cent. and 30 per cent. reductions in CO2 emissions by 2020. The assessment is available at annex F of www.dti.gov.uk/energy/whitepaper/phase2.pdf.
Further work has also recently been published looking at the trade and regional implications of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme which is due to start in January 2005. This is available at: www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sepn/euetsimplications.pdf.