Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment he has made of progress towards meeting the Kyoto agreement targets on carbon dioxide emissions.

DECC published the latest figures for UK greenhouse gas emissions on 3^rd February 2015 [1]. This included an assessment of progress towards meeting targets agreed under the Kyoto Protocol. The UK’s target for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which ran from 2008 to 2012, was a 12.5 percent reduction on Kyoto Protocol base year emissions [2]. UK emissions of the basket of six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol (including carbon dioxide) were an average 607.9 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per year over this period taking account of emissions trading under the EU Emissions Trading System; 22 percent lower than base year emissions.

[1] Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407432/20150203_2013_Final_Emissions_statistics.pdf

2] ‘Base year emissions’ refer to UK emissions in 1990, as reported in the UK 2004 inventory submission.