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23 May 2006 : Column 1689W—continued
Entry Level Stewardship Scheme
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply to Question (a) 68580, (b) 68578, (c) 68579 and (d) 68581, on the entry level stewardship scheme, tabled by the hon. Member for St. Ives. [72740]
Barry Gardiner [holding answer 22 May 2006]: I replied to the hon. Member on the 22 May 2006.
Environmental Liability Directive
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which UK sites of special scientific interest do not fall within the scope of the environmental liability directive and would not be protected under UK implementing laws unless its scope were to be extended. [71457]
Barry Gardiner: Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) overlap with sites protected under EU legislation (council directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds; council directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation
of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora). As a result, the 25 per cent. of SSSI areas in England that are not also EU-protected sites, would not be covered by legislation implementing the environmental liability directive unless the Government exercised the discretion provided in that directive. I shall write to my hon. Friend with the detailed information.
This is in respect of England only as policy on the environment and nature conservation is a devolved matter and therefore for the respective Administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Fisheries Agreements
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what position the UK will take on the forthcoming EU-Morocco fisheries agreement in the Western Sahara. [72435]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 22 May 2006]: The UK will vote in favour of the regulation on the basis that there are no fisheries objections and that there is nothing in the regulation that is inconsistent with international law.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations were made to the EU Council of Ministers opposing commercial fishing in the waters of the Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement. [72606]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 22 May 2006]: The EU Council of Ministers has not previously discussed the relevant proposal for a regulation establishing a bilateral fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco. However, it is expected that the Council will adopt this regulation on 22 May 2006. The UK will vote in favour of the regulation on the basis that there are no fisheries objections and that there is nothing in the regulation that is inconsistent with international law.
Flood Prevention
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much the chairman of the Wessex Flood Defence Committee received in travel costs in the last two years; and from what residential location his travel costs were calculated; [70242]
(2) how many official journeys the chairman of the Wessex Flood Defence Committee undertook in the last two years. [70243]
Ian Pearson: The Chairman of the Wessex Regional Flood Defence Committee undertook 73 official trips in 2004-05 and 48 official trips in 2005-06. His travel costs in that period totalled £7,640.
The Chairman can claim travel and subsistence expenses incurred away from his normal place of work, and any other expenses necessarily incurred on business in line with the expenses guidance for Committee Chairmen issued by the Environment Agency.
Forest Certification
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account his Department took in deciding its policy on the programme for the endorsement of forest certification schemes of representations made by the Prime Minister of Australia to (a) the Prime Minister and (b) other Government Ministers. [72426]
Barry Gardiner: The UK Government’s decision to wait until it reviews all the forest certification schemes it first assessed in 2004 before reaching a conclusion on the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes’ amendments remains unchanged. An interim report explaining this rationale behind this decision can be seen at www.proforest.net/cpet
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support his Department is giving to the European Commission and EU Space Agency Respond Programme within the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative; and if he will make a statement. [71042]
Ian Pearson: Defra is the policy lead for the Government on the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA).
We have been working closely with the Commission and ESA in the development of GMES and the Government has subscribed to Phase-1 of the ESA GMES Space Component Programme, which will provide satellite data for a range of GMES applications.
We continue to take a close interest in all areas of GMES, especially the service related elements, including RESPOND.
Defra will continue to engage with the Commission and ESA, other Government departments and UK stakeholders to ensure, as far as possible, that GMES meets UK needs at good value for money.
Greenhouse Gases
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in greenhouse gases since 1997; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change. [71035]
Ian Pearson: The following table shows UK emissions for the six greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and total emissions in million tonnes of carbon equivalent, for each year since 1997. These figures are taken from this year's UK greenhouse gas inventory.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
The Government's UK Climate Change Programme, published on 28 March 2006 outlined the reasons for the reduction. The decrease in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 has mainly been driven by restructuring, especially in the energy supply industry, energy efficiency, pollution control measures in the industrial sector and other policies that reduced emissions of non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases.
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the industries which are the 10 largest emitters of greenhouse gases; and how much and what proportion of total emissions of such gases they emitted in the last year for which figures are available. [71433]
Ian Pearson: The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory provides a specific breakdown of greenhouse gas emissions from the following industrial sectors:
Power Generation
Petroleum Refining
Manufacture of Solid Fuels and other energy industries
Iron and Steel Production
Non Ferrous Metal Production
Offshore Oil and Gas Extraction
Production of Cement, lime and fletton brick
The contribution of these processes to UK greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in millions tonnes of carbon equivalent (MtCe), and percentage of total UK greenhouse gas emissions, is given in the following table. These data are taken from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory for 2004, which is the latest year for which data are available.
| UK greenhouse gas emissions 2004 | ||
| Sector | GHG emissions in 2004/MtCe | Percentage of total UK GHG emissions in 2004 |
Emissions from the chemicals industry are estimated to be of the order of 3 million tonnes of carbon per year (approximately 1.8 per cent. of total UK greenhouse gas emissions). A more precise figure for this sector will be available when European Union Emissions Trading Scheme figures for 2005 can be formally reconciled with the 2005 inventory dataset, which will be published in 2007.
Verified emissions of UK installations included in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme are
available, by sector, on the Defra website. The EU ETS covers installations responsible for approximately 50 per cent. of UK CO2 emissions.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) percentage and (b) actual change in carbon dioxide emissions was between 1990 and the most recent year for which figures are available based on (i) Kyoto Treaty criteria and (ii) Kyoto Treaty criteria together with emissions from international aviation and international shipping. [70314]
Ian Pearson: The figures requested are taken from the UK Greenhouse Gas inventory 2006 and are given in the following table. They show emissions between 1990 and 2004, the latest year for which full data are available.
| Greenhouse gas emissions in Kyoto base year and 2004 | ||||
| Source | Emissions in base year/MtCe( 1) | Emissions in 2004/MtCe( 1) | Absolute change/MtCe( 1) | Percentage change |
| (1) Million tonnes of Carbon equivalent |
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