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Carbon Dioxide

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what targets she has set for carbon dioxide reductions over the next (a) 20, (b) 30 and (c) 40 years. [35514]

Mr. Morley: The UK has two targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. In 1997 the UK Government set a national goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. The 2003
 
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Energy White Paper also set out a longer term goal of putting the UK on a path to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. by 2050, with real progress by 2020.

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will reassess the 60 per cent. by 2050 target for reducing UK carbon dioxide emissions. [34480]

Mr. Morley: The 2003 Energy White Paper accepted the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's recommendation that the UK should put itself on a path towards a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of some 60 per cent. from 1990 levels by about 2050. This figure is constantly kept under review in light of emerging scientific findings including the results of the Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change conference held as part of the UK's presidency of the G8 in Exeter earlier this year.

The Energy Review announced jointly by the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 29 November will assess progress against the four goals set by the 2003 Energy White Paper including the 2050 target.

Central Heating (Leeds)

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of houses in the Leeds West constituency she estimates had no central heating in each year since 1992. [35251]

Mr. Morley: We do not currently hold this data. However, detailed information on the percentage of households without central heating in each ward of Leeds Metropolitan district is available from the 2001 census, and can be explored in depth at http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk

Cetacean By-catch

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 November 2005, Official Report, column 1053W, what discussions she has had with the French Government regarding French fishing vessels' compliance with the European Commission Observer Programme. [34847]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 5 December 2005]: None.

Commissioner Borg wrote to all member states on 14 November asking them to take all necessary steps to comply with the obligations of Council Regulation 812/2004, particularly those relating to monitoring of cetacean by-catch. Member states are required to report to the Commission by 1 June 2006. I anticipate they will report soon thereafter.

CFCs

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Environment Agency requests figures from recyclers on the amount of CFC recovered from recycled refrigerators. [R] [35662]

 
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Mr. Bradshaw: Licences issued by the Environment Agency require operators of refrigerator treatment and recovery facilities to provide information on the quantity of CFC's recovered.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of the CFC removed from a refrigerator is from (a) the insulating foam and (b) the coolant. [35663]

Mr. Bradshaw: Between 25 per cent. and 33 per cent. of the CFC's removed from refrigerators is coolant and 66 per cent. to 75 per cent. is recovered from the foam.

The variation is due to differences in numbers of damaged refrigerators being received at the treatment plants. The percentage of damaged refrigerators which have lost most or all of the coolant varies between 40 per cent. and 70 per cent..

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many firms are accounting for all CFC gases (a) destroyed properly and (b) missing due to mishandling during the process of recycling refrigerators. [35664]

Mr. Bradshaw: There are 13 firms and one local authority operating CFC recovery and disposal facilities at present. Some firms operate more than one site. Operators provide information on numbers of refrigerators received, damaged, treated, the quantity of CFCs recovered and sent for destruction or destroyed on site.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions her Department has pursued for releasing CFC while collecting refrigerators for recycling. [35665]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Environment Agency has taken six successful prosecutions and one resulted in a jail sentence. Some prosecutions involved more than one offence.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost is of recycling a refrigerator (a) with and (b) without the CFC from its (i) coolant and (ii) foam insulation. [35666]

Mr. Bradshaw: The cost of recycling a refrigerator is a contractual matter between local authorities and the waste management industry, and may vary from contract to contract.

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the operation of section 27 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. [35978]

Mr. Bradshaw: Section 27 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 came into force on 7 June this year, and provides clarification that chewing gum and smoking-related materials are litter for the purposes of Part 4 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It has always been the case that Defra considered these items to be litter but the legislation now confirms this for the avoidance of any doubt among practitioners.
 
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Tackling these forms of litter is particularly important given the huge cost to local authorities of removing gum once it has become impacted, and the findings of the Local Environmental Quality Survey of England (LEQSE) which show that in both 2003–04 and 2004–05 smokers materials were found on 79 per cent. of the sites surveyed and so is one of the most widespread types of litter. Section 27 operates so as to encourage action to be taken by local authorities against these forms of litter through awareness-raising, public campaigns and enforcement action including the use of fixed penalty notices.

Climate Change

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the potential impact on England and Wales of changes to the Gulf Stream as a result of climate change. [34876]

Mr. Morley: Research funded by Defra at the Met Office's Hadley Centre is aimed at determining the likelihood of changes as a result of global warming to the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation (THC), of which the Gulf Stream forms an important component.

Although recent data collected by the Natural Environment Research Council suggest a possible recent weakening of components of the THC of up to 20 to 30 per cent., changes in the strength of the Gulf Stream itself or effects on temperatures have not been seen.

Latest Hadley Centre modelling results indicate that a sustained slowing of the THC over a few decades could have a cooling effect of about 1C. However, warming due to greenhouse gases is likely to be greater, leading to a net warming in coming decades.

No specific assessment has been made of the potential impacts of this scenario but it would likely mean that impacts would be reduced relative to current warming scenarios.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the attribution of a carbon value to forest retention in developing countries as part of her climate change policy, with particular reference to the position she is taking on international climate change negotiations. [33698]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 1 December 2005]: Our policy is that emissions reductions from reduced deforestation should be part of developing countries' participation in climate change agreements. Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, supported by other countries making up the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, have proposed to the 11th Conference of Parties to the United Nations framework convention on climate change which met in Montreal from 28 November to 9 December this year that reductions below a national baseline could be used as a measure of achievement. This is an interesting proposal, although significant technical issues remain, including on how baselines would in practice be defined and reductions relative to them measured. These questions need to be resolved before this or any other proposal could provide a basis for quantification of emissions saved, and hence valuation in carbon markets. Participation under the
 
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Kyoto protocol would be after the first commitment period, for which the rules are already set. We are working with other parties to establish a process to resolve the technical and related policy questions.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her discussions with the US administration on climate change strategies. [35379]

Mr. Morley: Throughout 2005 we have engaged with the US administration on climate change issues. In particular, the UK's G8 presidency has succeeded in focusing US attention on energy and climate issues.

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