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Forestry (Nigeria)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Cross River State Community Forestry Project in Nigeria. [49200]

Clare Short: The Department has been involved with Cross River communities, in the use and management of forest resources on a sustainable basis, at varying times over the last seven years. Implementation on the latest programme commenced in July 1999 and is due to complete in January 2003.

This project was last formally assessed during an Output-to-Purpose Review (OPR) in September 2001 in conjunction with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The review team observed significant achievements over the two-year period compared to the slow progress under military rule prior to 1999. Most notably, the conclusions from the OPR related to economy, efficiency and effectiveness highlighted the following:

33 forest management committees (FMCs) have been established. Strong partnerships have developed between all stakeholders in a number of these and communities are organising themselves according to a common constitution to protect their rights and forest.


Communities have shown more commitment to the sustainable management of their forest resources and to curbing illegal exploitation. This has been largely due to public awareness of the value and importance of sustainable forest management undertaken by the project.


Communities are receiving a greater share of forest royalties more promptly while changes in forest laws promoted by the project, which will strengthen communities' rights over forests, are about to be submitted.


Capacity of community based forest organisations and of the forestry commission staff have improved with training provided under the project.

An important component of the project worked on the institutional strengthening and capacity building of the Forest Commission (FC) to enable it to facilitate implementation of the forest sector strategy and action plan. The capacity of the state to play its role in joint management of forest resources is crucial to sustaining the productive capacity and biological resources and to ecological significance of the tropical high forest. Notable achievements here are:

Technical assistance initiated by the project in 1999 has been significant in introducing genuine joint management of strategic forest resources.


A new institutional change programme sponsored by the project is significantly assisting the process of institution reform and financial efficiency and accountability within the FC.

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A forest sector strategy and an action plan have been drafted under the project while a community forestry support unit has been established within the forest commission.


Illegal logging and transport of timber have been reduced.


A number of short-term (international and local) consultancies have provided valuable input into the project implementation eg the Non Timber Forest Products consultancy while the Legal Framework consultancy provided groundwork for the proposed changes in the laws.

Overall, the review team concluded that the project purpose was likely to be partially achieved, which is significant given the original risk assessment rated this project as medium to high risk, later amended to high risk. This achievement rating could be changed during the next review. CIDA have agreed to continue working with the forestry commission and the communities when DFID's input completes next year. DFID's withdrawal is solely linked to our stated strategy to focus on a limited number of reforming states (four). These states are in the south-west, south-east, north and middle belt. Cross River state is in the south geo-political zone.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what are the latest estimates she has received of changes in total carbon dioxide emissions in the UK in (a) 2010 and (b) 2015; and if she will make a statement. [50432]

Mr. Meacher: The latest carbon dioxide projections are published in the UK's Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Projections, taking account of the policies and measures as quantified in the UK's Climate Change Programme, show estimated emissions in 2010 at about 19 per cent. below the 1990 level. Additional measures that cannot yet be quantified could increase this to a 20 per cent. reduction. Although the uncertainties are greater, current projections indicate about the same level of reduction in 2015 without further policies and measures.

Refrigerators

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the household waste and recycling fund announced by her Department on 26 March will be used to finance the cost of (a) collection, (b) storage and (c) recycling of waste-refrigeration units in accordance with EC Regulation No 2037/2000; and if she will make a statement. [51534]

Mr. Meacher: The £140 million Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund is a ring-fenced grant that is designed to help local authorities in England to improve in particular, their recycling and composting performance, and waste management generally.

No proportion of the Fund has been specifically allocated for the purposes of financing the cost of (a) collection, (b) storage and (c) recycling of waste refrigeration units.

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Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance on the storage and disposal of waste-refrigeration units has been provided to (a) local authorities and (b) consumers since 4 December 2001; and if she will make a statement. [51505]

Mr. Meacher: The Environment Agency has now issued the final version of its guidance on the recovery and disposal (including storage) of refrigerators and freezers. In addition, a list of treatment companies has been placed on the DEFRA website to facilitate contact between local authorities and the waste management industry.

A leaflet for householders advising on how to dispose of old fridges, originally available only on the DEFRA website, has now been published in hard copy as well, and widely distributed. Guidance on the disposal of commercial refrigeration equipment has been placed on the website and we hope to issue a paper version shortly.

Combined Heat and Power

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to utilise biomass fuelled CHP technology on the Government Estate; and when these plans will be implemented. [51964]

Mr. Meacher: All Government Departments have a target to ensure that by 31 March 2003, at least 5 per cent. of their electricity comes from renewable sources, or from self-generation, provided this does not entail excessive cost. They also have a longer-term target for at least 10 per cent. of their supply by 31 March 2008, which is subject to review after March 2003.

Biomass is just one of the renewable technologies that can help Departments meet this target. I am not aware of any current plans to utilise biomass production technology on any significant scale on the Government Estate, and it is for each Department to determine the extent to which self-generation is a practicable and cost-effective option.

However, DEFRA, PIU and the National Lottery are funding research and development into energy crops and biomass as fuel for CHP schemes, and I will encourage Government Departments to examine the scope which such technology may in future offer.

Global Warming

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the emissions figures are for each of the Kyoto protocol greenhouse gases in every year since 1997; and what different weighting is given to each gas owing to its global warming potential. [51962]

Mr. Meacher: UK emissions data for the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto protocol to the year 2000 were reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change earlier this month.

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The following table summarises the data for the years since 1997, expressed in million tonnes of carbon equivalent. The global warming potential used to arrive at these emission estimates are summarised in the final column of the table. The values are those for a 100-year time horizon published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1995. These are the weighting factors agreed for use under the Kyoto protocol during the first commitment period.

UK greenhouse gas emissions expressed as million tonnes of carbon

ses	1997	1998	1999	2000	Global warming potential (100 year horizon)
C0 2	152.5	153.2	150.8	152.1	1
CH 4	16.3	15.6	14.8	13.9	21
N 2 0	16.6	15.8	12.2	12.0	310
HFCs	5.0	5.5	2.4	2.5	(10)—
PFCs	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	(11)—
SF 6	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4	23,900
Total(12)	190.9	190.7	180.8	181.1	—

⁽¹⁰⁾ Values for specific HFCs range from 140–11700

⁽¹¹⁾ PFCs include mainly perfluoromethane (6500), perfluoroethane (9200), and perfluoropropane (7000).

⁽¹²⁾ Totals may not correspond exactly to entries in columns due to rounding.

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2002, Official Report, column 1340W, on greenhouse gas emissions, when the data for 2000–01 will be published. [51978]

Mr. Meacher: The process for the collection of data for the years 2000–01 and 2001–02 is under way and we plan to continue previous practice by including this data in the Greening Government Annual Report published in November of each year. Commencing this year we intend to report data on the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of buildings on the Government Estate about 6 months after the end of the financial year, rather than current practice of reporting 18 months in arrears.

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