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19 Apr 2004 : Column 143W—continued
Hunting Trophies
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what investigations are conducted to ascertain whether hunting trophies have been obtained illegally. [164401]
Mr. Morley:
All applications for permits are referred to the UK's Authority for advice on the conservation status of the species concerned. An applicant wishing to import a hunting trophy from an endangered species would need to provide a copy of the export permit issued
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by the exporting country. This is regarded as proof of legal acquisition and without this an import permit would not be authorised.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times in the last five years the import of hunted trophies has been refused where there was evidence that the animals had been taken illegally. [164402]
Mr. Morley: I am not aware of any applications in the last five years to import hunting trophies which were acquired illegally.
Ice Caps
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in the percentage of ice cap cover in (a) Antarctica and (b) the Arctic in each year since 1974; and what total (i) area and (ii) volume the change between 1974 and 2003 represents. [165747]
Mr. Morley: The following tables show:
Percentage change in sea ice area for the southern and northern hemispheres from 1975 to 2003, relative to 1974.
Change in sea ice area in million square kilometers for the southern and northern hemispheres from 1975 to 2003, relative to 1974.
There is no significant trend in area coverage of Antarctic sea ice. Arctic sea ice shows a downward trend of approximately 2.9 per cent. per decade.
Observations of ice thickness are not routinely available, and consequently it is not possible to construct a description of the annual volume change. From the limited data available there are indications that there is a downward trend in Arctic sea ice volume of 4 per cent. per decade.
Graphs showing the change in sea ice area have been placed in the Library of the House. Note that reliable satellite measurements of sea ice area have been available only since 1978. The apparent rapid change in sea ice in the 1970s is partly due to the change from the previous sparse ship observations to the routine satellite measurements.
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| Year | Antarctica | Arctic |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | -0.432 | -0.06 |
| 1976 | -0.915 | 0.14 |
| 1977 | -1.154 | 0.04 |
| 1978 | -0.911 | 0.13 |
| 1979 | -0.882 | -0.21 |
| 1980 | -1.268 | -0.26 |
| 1981 | -1.07 | -0.53 |
| 1982 | -0.868 | -0.13 |
| 1983 | -1.145 | -0.29 |
| 1984 | -0.991 | -0.66 |
| 1985 | -0.865 | -0.57 |
| 1986 | -1.408 | -0.35 |
| 1987 | -1.042 | -0.3 |
| 1988 | -0.928 | -0.37 |
| 1989 | -1.005 | -0.57 |
| 1990 | -0.971 | -0.86 |
| 1991 | -0.977 | -0.74 |
| 1992 | -1.085 | -0.43 |
| 1993 | -1.015 | -0.68 |
| 1994 | -0.618 | -0.48 |
| 1995 | -0.707 | -1.14 |
| 1996 | -0.765 | -0.72 |
| 1997 | -0.869 | -0.61 |
| 1998 | -0.714 | -0.51 |
| 1999 | -0.815 | -0.47 |
| 2000 | -0.684 | -0.75 |
| 2001 | -0.91 | -0.58 |
| 2002 | -1.192 | -0.76 |
| 2003 | -0.604 | -0.79 |
Ivory Sales
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the decision under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to demand that all African states ban domestic ivory sales. [165252]
Mr. Morley: While the CITES Secretariat did call for a ban on domestic ivory sales in African states, the CITES Standing Committee decided that this matter required further consideration by the range states and that the final decision should be referred to the 13th Conference of CITES Parties, which is to take place in Bangkok in October.
The fact that there are unregulated internal markets for ivory in certain parts of Africa is a matter of major concern and I await with interest the Secretariat's proposals for dealing with this matter.
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Kyoto
Bob Spink: To 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. Morley: The 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.
Marine/Coastal Pollution
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents in the last year for which figures are available of (a) marine pollution and (b) coastal pollution have resulted in (i) court actions and (ii) fines; and what the nature and level of conviction and financial penalty was in each case. [162899]
Mr. Morley: Several Departments and Agencies are responsible for incidents of coastal and marine pollution in English and Welsh waters depending on the source of the pollution. In 2003 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency took one successful court action which resulted in a £30,000 fine. Information about marine pollution from land based sources is available from the Environment Agency.
Nappies
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of the average annual cost to a waste disposal authority of the disposal in landfill sites of disposable nappies; what discussions she has had with local authorities about ways of reducing those costs; what steps she takes to promote best practice in such matters; and if she will make a statement; [161854]
(2) what estimate she has made of the tonnage of disposable nappies that was disposed of in landfill sites in the last five years; what percentage of that tonnage is represented by (a) faeces and urine and (b) the original weight of the nappy; and what assessment she has made of the public health implications of the disposal in landfill sites of the untreated raw sewage in disposable nappies; [161855]
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(3) what steps her Department takes to promote the uptake of reusable nappies; [161856]
(4) what initiatives she plans to reduce the impact upon the environment of the use of disposable nappies. [161911]
Mr. Morley: West Sussex County Council's scheme promoting re-usable nappies was included in the Municipal Waste Management Strategies Guidance published by the then DETR in 2001. West Sussex estimated that the cost of disposing of nappies to them was between £280,000 and £430,000 per annum.
The Strategy Unit in its report "Waste Not Want Not" estimated that in 2000–01 nappies comprised around 2 per cent. of household waste, equivalent to 350,000 tonnes.
Medical and related scientific studies show a wide range for the production of urine and faeces from children of different ages and these figures are currently being investigated as part of the Environment Agency study on the life cycle impacts of disposable and reusable nappy systems which will report in the summer.
Properly regulated landfill is a proven method of dealing with waste safely and can be relied on if alternative methods of dealing with waste are not provided. Our view is that good waste management practice adequately regulated can and does cope with disposable nappies.
Following the publication of the Strategy Unit report "Waste Not Want Not" the Government accepted the recommendation that the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) should take forward (as part of an overall waste minimisation initiative) work on supporting re-usable nappies through the provision of support for new businesses and information to parents. The details of the programme are still being worked up.
The aim of the WRAP programme is to achieve an average diversion of 225 kg/yr per participating household. WRAP'S target is to convert 155,000 households to re-usable nappies by end of fiscal year 2006. This is an ambitious target and if achieved would create a reduction in household waste of 35,000 tonnes.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the merits of including disposable nappies in the criteria for hazardous waste. [164491]
Mr. Morley:
For a waste to be classified as "hazardous", it must normally be listed as such in the European Waste Catalogue. Nappies are not listed as hazardous. It is open to member states to determine that other wastes are hazardous where these display one or more of the hazardous properties specified in the Hazardous Waste Directive at above the thresholds the directive specifies. Waste such as nappies would be considered under property H9 (infectious). However, to be considered hazardous there would need to be a high risk that infectious substances were present in the waste at a concentration above that naturally encountered. Since the source population for household waste is healthy, the risk of infection is very low and nappies do not therefore meet the criteria necessary for a "hazardous" classification.
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