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12 Oct 2009 : Column 435W—continued
Ukraine: NATO
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has held with his Ukranian counterpart on Ukraine's application to join NATO. [291754]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
I have had no discussions with my Ukrainian counterpart on NATO membership. Both our predecessors, the right hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne) and His Excellency
Yekhanurov, met twice in 2008. They discussed the continued UK's strong support to Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations and Ukraine's involvement in International Peace Support Operations, including NATO in Afghanistan.
Unmanned Air Vehicles
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the conclusions of research on the combat effectiveness of miniature unmanned aerial vehicles in conflict zones. [291630]
Mr. Quentin Davies: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
Energy and Climate Change
Franco-British Nuclear Forum
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the Franco-British Nuclear Forum remains operational. [289889]
Mr. Kidney: In April 2009 it was agreed between representatives of the British and French Governments that the Franco-British Nuclear Forum had achieved its objectives of exploring aspects and conditions of nuclear energy in the context of the new nuclear build programme in the UK. Therefore, given the high quality of existing bilateral cooperation between the British and French nuclear agencies it was also agreed that the forum should be brought to a formal close.
Renewables Advisory Board
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2009, Official Report, column 709W, on the Renewables Advisory Board, when he expects to finalise the Renewables Advisory Board budget for 2009-10. [290132]
Mr. Kidney: We expect the budget for the Renewables Advisory Board (RAB) to be finally agreed in the early autumn.
I can however confirm that for the three months April to June the spend for RAB was £36,257.
Biofuels
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of progress at EU level on the development of mandatory sustainability criteria for biofuels. [289775]
Mr. Kidney: The EU Renewable Energy Directive, published in June this year, includes mandatory sustainability criteria for biofuels. The directive is subject to a comitology process which will include clarifying key aspects within the sustainability criteria for biofuels; we expect these discussions to take place towards the end of this year. The directive is due to be transposed into national law by December 2010.
Carbon and Energy Saving Trusts
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2009, Official Report, columns 399-400W, on the Carbon Trust: public relations, if he will ask the Board of the Carbon Trust to publish details of payments it has made to (a) Fishburn Hedges, (b) Grayling Political Strategy, (c) Weber Shandwick Public Affairs and (d) Citigate Public Affairs in each of the last five years; [290497]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2009, Official Report, column 999W, on the Energy Saving Trust: public relations, if he will ask the board of the Energy Saving Trust to publish details of the payments it has made to (a) Positif Politics Ltd., (b) Strategen, (c) Weber Shandwick Public Affairs and (d) Consolidated Communications in each of the last five years. [290498]
Joan Ruddock: I do not intend to do so. Operational decisions are a matter for the trusts, and the release of these details is therefore a matter for their boards. However, I understand that both Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust would be happy to discuss these issues with the hon. Gentleman, and I suggest that he contact the chair of each trust if he wishes to take up that offer.
Carbon Emissions
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his latest estimate is of the Government's carbon footprint. [288714]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
Government are committed to achieving a reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions from its estate of 12.5 per cent., and from administrative road travel by 15 per cent., both by 2010-11. Progress against these targets is reported annually in the Sustainable Development in Government report. This latest assessment of performance, published in December 2008, shows that emissions from the office estate in 2007-08 were 2,642,623 tonnes of CO2, and emissions from administrative road vehicles were 148,762 tonnes. These represent a reduction of 6.3 per cent. and 10.3 per cent. respectively against the 1999-2000 baseline year. Departments separately reported data on air travel to the Government Carbon Off-setting Fund (GCOF) to comply with the mandate to off-set all international air travel.
The Government delivery plan for sustainable operations and procurement shows that Government have plans in place to achieve the further reductions required by 2010-11.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to improve cross-departmental working on building a low carbon economy. [289822]
Joan Ruddock: In July the Government published the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, which set out the UK's strategy for making the transition to a low carbon economy. Responsibility for delivering the strategy is shared across Government, and DECC is working closely with other departments to ensure the measures set out in the Transition Plan and associated documents are delivered effectively.
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions attributable to from the Carbon Trust's local authority carbon management programme. [289878]
Joan Ruddock: Based on implementation so far, the Carbon Trust estimates that the programme has helped local authorities to save 1.6Mt CO2 on a lifetime basis.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what representations he has received from the National Insulation Association on changes to the Carbon Emission Reduction Target scheme and specification of non-physical methods of emission reduction. [291772]
Joan Ruddock: Government consulted earlier this year on amendments to the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target. In taking final decisions, we took account of a broad range of views, including those of the National Insulation Association. Amendments came into force in July 2009 acting to increase the target by 20 per cent., increase the innovation ring-fence, remove non-retail CFL schemes as eligible and provide up-front scores for behavioural measures, namely real time displays and home energy advice. Given that behavioural measures were new to CERT we capped their promotion at 2 per cent. of a suppliers target and required they only be deployed following a direct request from a householder.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the carbon emissions reduction scheme in (a) 2002 to 2005, (b) 2005 to 2008 and (c) 2009. [291773]
Mr. Kidney: The primary aim of the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT, 2008-11) is to reduce carbon emissions in the household sector to contribute to national and international climate change targets. CERT and its predecessor the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC, 2002-08) has shown to be very effective, with EEC saving some 3.2 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2008 and CERT expected to add a further 5.6 million tonnes of CO2 savings by 2011. This mechanism has also proved to be very effective at getting measures into homes-for instance, some six million households have benefited from subsidised or free insulation since 2002, one million of these in the first year of CERT alone. Independent analysis has also demonstrated that this has been achieved cost-effectively-through EEC householders receiving ongoing benefits in the form of reduced energy bills and increased comfort with a net present value of £8.2 billion.
Carbon Emissions: Developing Countries
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the Prime Minister's announcement of 26 June 2009 of a $100 billion per year fund to help developing countries reduce their emissions, what proportion of this fund the Government expects to contribute; and from which budget this funding will be made. [289687]
Joan Ruddock: The UK wants all countries except the least developed to contribute to climate financing. The UK is arguing for an objective, transparent way of working out which countries should contribute using criteria such as ability to pay (GDP) and responsibility (emissions).
We expect a significant portion of the $100 billion figure to be generated by a reformed and expanded global carbon market. Revenues generated by the carbon market are heavily dependent on the mitigation ambition of a global deal, so we are simultaneously pushing for a high ambition deal at the Copenhagen summit in December.
The UK has proposed that some climate finance can come from official development assistance where it clearly meets both poverty reduction and adaptation or mitigation objectives. However, in the UK we will limit such expenditure to up to 10 per cent. of our official development assistance. We are working towards this limit being agreed internationally.
The rest would come from a combination of new and additional sources of finance. The UK would be willing to support the approach proposed by Norway, which is an 'automatic' mechanism for generating predictable and credible flows of international public finance by auctioning a small proportion of international emissions allowances.
A decision has not been made about which budget this funding will be made from. The UK has pledged to pay its fair share of climate finance, but the exact proportion the UK Government expect to contribute are contingent on the deal at Copenhagen.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the Prime Minister's announcement of 26 June 2009 of a $100 billion per year fund to help developing countries reduce their emissions, whether he expects to achieve a global agreement on this proposal (a) before the Copenhagen summit and (b) at the Copenhagen summit. [289688]
Joan Ruddock: The aim of the Prime Minister's announcement was to move the debate from hypothetical figures to negotiation on actual mitigation actions and contributions. The UK wants all countries except the least developed to contribute to climate financing. The $100 billion figure includes carbon market revenues, up to 10 per cent. of official development assistance and a combination of new and additional sources of finance; the UK is willing to support an 'automatic' mechanism auctioning a small proportion of international emissions allowances, as proposed by Norway.
The UK has been working towards a global agreement on the principles set out in the Prime Minister's announcement, using all available international negotiations and near-negotiations fora. The initiative has enabled the UK to show leadership and provided an opportunity to push for strong progress on climate finance. The international response has been positive, both from developing countries such as The Maldives and Rwanda, as well developed countries such as Australia. Recently, the Prime Minister was invited by President Obama to give a presentation on the UK initiative at the Major Economies Forum. We will continue to work closely with EU and international colleagues in the coming months in order to reach a global agreement on finance at the Copenhagen summit.
Carbon Emissions: Households
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent steps the Government has taken to encourage households to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. [291534]
Mr. Kidney: On 11 September 2008 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a major boost to our energy efficiency programme, building on an already ambitious package of measures.
The announcement included a significant increase in the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) obligation on suppliers, demanding additional energy supplier investment of some £560 million in household energy efficiency-taking overall supplier investment to almost £3.4 billion over the three years of the scheme to 2011. Overall, we expect the scheme to benefit around 6 million households with significant energy saving measures such as insulation, while millions more will benefit from energy efficient lights, high efficiency appliances and energy saving devices.
In addition, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a new Community Energy Savings Programme which is now in operation delivering an estimated £350 million of measures to reduce the carbon emissions and fuel bills of 90,000 households in vulnerable low-income communities.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change also grant funds the Energy Saving Trust (EST) to support its work reducing carbon emissions from the household sector. Through the Government funded ACT ON CO2 advice line and regional one-stop shop advice centres, the EST works directly with consumers to help them reduce their carbon footprint with respect to energy, waste, water and transport. In 2008-09 the EST advised over 1.3 million consumers through their advice centres.
Carbon Reduction Commitment
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the amount of revenue which will arise from the sale of allowances through the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme in each of the next five years. [289892]
Joan Ruddock: There will be no net revenue raised by the sale of Carbon Reduction Commitment allowances because all the money collected in the sale will be returned to participants according to how well they reduce their emissions.
Carbon Sequestration
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the Statement of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 382, on coal and carbon capture and storage, how much he estimates the proposed financial mechanism will raise in each year up to 2020. [289751]
Mr. Kidney:
The amount that will be raised under the levy each year will depend on a number of factors including the rate at which projects come forward, the number of projects supported at any time and the cost
of each project, which will vary dependent upon a number of factors including technology type, installed capacity, operational performance and location.
The impact assessment which is part of our consultation, 'A Framework for Cleaner Coal', published on 17 June provides an estimate of the costs of CCS demonstration under an illustrative scenario up to 2032.
The scenario is based on up to four CCS demonstration projects, one of 300MW and three of 450MW capacity receiving support for up to 15 years. The total cost of support that would be provided from the levy is estimated to be £5.2 - £9.0 billion.
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much the Government has spent on developing carbon capture and storage technology to date. [289851]
Mr. Kidney: Between 1997 and 2009 the Government spent £77.9 million on the research and development of Carbon Abatement Technologies, including Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Spend for CCS technologies only is not available.
This comprises spending under the UK's Clean Coal Programme administered by the former Department of Trade and Industry, the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), the UK Research Councils and the Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF) Carbon Abatement Technology Demonstration Programme.
Carbon Trust
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the budget of the Carbon Trust was in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10; what it is planned to be in 2010-11; and how much of that funding was from his Department in each year. [289722]
Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Trust is a private company and receives income from a number of sources.
The amounts grant funded by DECC (and previously by DEFRA and by DTI/BERR) to the Carbon Trust in 2007-08 and 2008-09 are as follows:
| £ million | ||
| DEFRA/DECC | DTI/BERR | |
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