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12 Oct 2009 : Column 441W—continued
In 2009-10, the Carbon Trust will receive up to £84.53 million in core grant funding from DECC. The trust will also receive up to £121.6 million of additional funding in 2009-10 specifically to deliver low interest loans to small and medium enterprises and public sector bodies (through Salix Finance), as announced in Budget 2009. The trust may also receive further funding for specific activities from the low carbon investment funding announced in Budget 2009.
The trust's budget for 2010-11 has not been finalised as this forms part of DECC's wider decisions on funding allocations.
Joan Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding the Carbon Trust has provided for (a) local authorities, (b) NHS bodies,
(c) higher and further education institutions and (d) other public bodies in (i) Stoke-on-Trent and (ii) North Staffordshire in the last 12 months. [291802]
Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Trust has worked with a range of public sector organisations in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire including schools, local authorities and NHS organisations to provide carbon management and energy efficiency advice.
The Carbon Trust has advised me that it is not possible to provide a funding breakdown for these specific locations.
Climate Change
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what methodology his Department used to (a) establish that adopting its proposals to the UN framework convention on climate change would restrict temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius and (b) calculate that expenditure of US$100 billion per annum was required to tackle climate change globally. [291397]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 16 September 2009]: We have used the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report as a primary reference for relating global emissions to our 2°C goal. We have also extensively used the Stern Review. In addition the Government are funding a major research programme on the science of climate change called the AVOID programme. AVOID is a DECC/DEFRA funded research programme led by the Met Office in a consortium with the Walker Institute, Tyndall Centre and Grantham Institute. For further information see:
We have drawn on analysis in various independent reports to calculate the scale of finance needed to tackle climate change in developing countries. The most recent, by Project Catalyst (a philanthropically funded project to develop analysis for the UNFCCC), put the total at €65-100 billion per year on average from 2010-2020 (€55-80 billion mitigation; €10-20 billion adaptation). The figure that the Prime Minister announced in a speech on 26 June 2009 of around $100 billion by 2020 is within this range. However, we also recognised that we must distinguish between research studies and the actual finance that countries might need for their low carbon and climate resilient growth and development. Therefore, we have proposed $100 billion a year by 2020 as a working figure for the world to focus on.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of changes to average global temperature since 2000. [292447]
Joan Ruddock: Observations collated at the Met Office Hadley Centre and the university of East Anglia Climate Research Unit indicate that global average near-surface temperatures during each of the years 2000 to 2008 inclusive, relative to the late 20th century (1961 to 1990) average of 14.00°C, were: +0.24, +0.40, +0.45, +0.46, +0.43, +0.48, +0.42, +0.40, and +0.31°C. Thus, the average for this period was 0.40°C warmer than that in the late 20th century.
Eight of the 10 warmest years on record all occurred between 2000 and 2008. It should be noted that short timescale (year-to-year to decadal) natural fluctuations in temperature are superimposed upon the long-term underlying warming trend.
Climate Change: Bangladesh
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will seek to place on the agenda of the forthcoming Copenhagen Conference the subject of assistance to Bangladesh to cope with the effects of climate change. [291271]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 16 September 2009]: In the climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December the UK Government will be striving to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable nations, like Bangladesh, receive the help they need to adapt to the impacts of climate change. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has called for significant climate finance for developing countries to be part of the Copenhagen deal, with a significant proportion of public finance going to support adaptation for the poorest and most vulnerable countries.
Climate Change: Conferences
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to lead the Government's delegation to the UN Framework Conference on Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009; what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on steps to secure an international agreement at the Copenhagen conference; and if he will make a statement. [291398]
Joan Ruddock: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change will lead the UK delegation when he goes to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen this December. Getting a deal at Copenhagen is a priority for the Government and the Prime Minister has said that if it is necessary to secure agreement in Copenhagen, he will personally go to achieve it.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which Ministers and officials from his Department participated in the UN Secretary General's high level event on climate change in New York on 22 September 2009; and if he will post on his departmental website each paper distributed at the meeting. [291621]
Joan Ruddock: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, supported by two DECC officials, participated in the UN Climate Change summit.
All papers distributed at the summit can be found on the UN website:
Climate Change: Publications
Charles Hendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 June 2009, Official Report, column 66WS, on the road to Copenhagen (public
awareness), how many copies of the pamphlet are to be printed; how those copies are being distributed; and what the cost of the preparation and publication programme is. [289598]
Joan Ruddock: I can confirm that the overall cost of the Road to Copenhagen leaflet was approximately £34,000 exclusive of VAT. This includes design, typesetting, printing and distribution of 46,000 copies. The leaflet is being distributed in hard copy or electronic format to a range of outlets, including educational establishments, public libraries, citizens advice bureaux, trade unions, business-related outlets, MPs and other key stakeholders.
Climate Change: South East
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the likely effects of climate change on (a) Hertfordshire and (b) the South East in the next 10 years. [289428]
Joan Ruddock: In 2005, the regional climate change partnerships, working with the UK Climate Impacts Programme, published 'Measuring Progress'. The report assessed the impacts of climate change by region, including the East and the South East, and included some indicative assessments of the impacts on activities from climate change.
On 18 June 2009, the Government published the latest UK Climate Projections. These projections show the potential changes in climate for the UK for a range of probabilities, climate variables and emissions scenarios. Results can give detail down to a 25 kilometre square grid. This data are freely available to all to make their own assessments of the likely effects of climate change. To support organisations in using the projections, the Government are providing a training package, Projections in Practice, which includes a programme of events in each region. Regional events have been organised in coordination with regional climate change partnerships. The events in the East of England will be held from 12-16 October 2009, and the events in the South East of England are from 2-6 November 2009.
Looking to the future, work has now begun on the first statutory national Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), to report by January 2012. All regions will have an important input.
Alongside this work, the Government have now begun the Adaptation Economic Assessment, which will analyse the high level economic costs and benefits of adapting to climate change in the UK. The project will include information by English region, but not by individual county boundary. It is also due to report in 2012.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to assist people in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) the South East to adapt their domestic circumstances to take account of the effects of climate change. [289443]
Joan Ruddock:
The aim of the Government's Adapting to Climate Change Programme is to help people adapt to the effects of climate change by providing robust evidence on the effects of climate change and embedding adaptation into policies, plans and programmes. The
programme seeks to achieve this by building capacity in organisations who are the most able to take long term adaptation decisions. This includes local Government via mechanisms such as National Indicator 188-Planning to Adapt to Climate Change-within the local Government performance framework to enable them to support individuals to adapt to future climate changes through local programmes.
On 18 June 2009, the Government published the latest UK Climate Projections. These projections show the potential changes in climate for the UK for a range of probabilities, climate variables and emissions scenarios. This data are freely available to all to make their own assessments of the likely effects of climate change. To support organisations in using the projections, the Government are providing a training package, Projections in Practice, which started in July and runs until March 2010. The programme includes a series of national events for specific sectors and also includes, from September, a programme of events in each region, including the South East and East of England.
To support adaptation locally and regionally, the Government have established a local and regional programme managed by a board of key local and regional organisations. The South East regional partnership, Climate South East, is represented on the board, as are regional climate change partnerships as a whole. The board manages a small programme of projects to develop guidance and tools to help local authorities, regional climate change partnerships and others to support communities to take account of the effects of climate change.
The Climate Change Partnership for the East of England has been working closely with representatives from Hertfordshire. It has had particular advice and support from the sustainability team at Hertfordshire county council in shaping and defining the partnership and its work programme activities.
Further information on the board and the Government's Adapting to Climate Change Programme is located on the Programme website at:
Coal Fired Power Stations
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's estimate is of the annual level of emissions of (i) carbon dioxide, (ii) nitrous oxide and (iii) sulphur hexafluoride of the proposed new coal-fired units at Kingsnorth. [289875]
Mr. Kidney: The Department has made no such estimate.
E.ON estimate that for 12TWh of electricity, the most likely production maximum, 8.6MTe of CO2 would be produced. No estimate has been made for the annual level of emissions of nitrous oxide or sulphur hexafluoride.
Coal: Industrial Health and Safety
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many coal health compensation claims have been made by each solicitors' firm on behalf of claimants resident in Bassetlaw constituency who are potentially eligible for a services claim. [292004]
Mr. Kidney: The number of coal health compensation schemes that were eligible for services claim is shown in the following table as at 4 October 2009. The figures include services claim made under chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and vibration white finger.
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