Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on promoting (a) a sulphur limit and (b) decarbonisation measures through the International Maritime Organisation.
Answered by John Hayes
Department for Transport officials continue to work with their European and international counterparts on both matters.
Ships operating in an emission control area (ECA) – such as the North Sea (including the English Channel) and Baltic Sea – are already subject to a 0.1 per cent sulphur limit. The next sulphur limit to affect shipping will be the 0.5 per cent global cap for ships when operating outside an ECA. The limit will apply in 2020, subject to the outcome of IMO’s review of fuel availability, which could see its application deferred until 2025. The review’s findings will be considered at the next session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which takes place in October 2016.
Regarding measures to reduce carbon emissions from ships, we expect a global data collection system on fuel consumption from ships to be adopted at the upcoming MEPC meeting. This is the first step in a process considering further technical and operational measures to enhance the energy efficiency of shipping. Officials will also play an active role in the Working Group at the same meeting to discuss how international shipping can play its part in delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what work his Department is carrying out in advance of the International Maritime Organisation's 70th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee to ensure a collective agreement on (a) fair share and (b) other possible measures needed to reduce carbon emissions.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
With greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping expected to grow as others sectors act to reduce theirs, the UK Government is clear that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) must take further steps to reduce emissions and improve the energy efficiency of ships.
At the 69th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, there was broad support from Member States and industry for proposals to define international shipping’s fair share of global greenhouse gas emissions. The UK strongly supports the establishing of a Working Group at the 70th session of the Committee (MEPC70) to discuss how the Organization should take this work forward and will play an active part in this group.
Department for Transport officials are continuing to engage with international partners to consider how these proposals can be taken forward in the IMO and to ensure that international shipping plays its part in working towards the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Regarding the energy efficiency of ships, the UK is actively contributing to the Intersessional Correspondence Group on the data collection system for fuel consumption of ships ahead of the MEPC70. The establishing of the data collection system is the first step in an agreed three step process towards further technical and operational measures applicable to new and existing ships. We are confident that the data collection system will be adopted at MEPC70 and the UK will continue to contribute to the work of this group to ensure that the data collection system is robust and transparent.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department holds on (a) how much methane gas an average shale gas drilling site releases into the atmosphere and (b) what technology reduces the amount of methane gas so released.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research has shown that the carbon footprint of shale gas extraction and use is likely to be comparable to conventional sources of gas and lower than the carbon footprint of imported Liquefied Natural Gas. [1]
In order to make sure emissions are minimised, the Environment Agency has made ‘Green Completions’ to capture emissions from operations a requirement for Environmental Permits for shale gas production.
Additionally, operators must develop a Waste Management Plan setting out how waste gases including fugitive methane emissions will be minimised, managed and monitored, which is submitted to the Environment Agency with permit applications. The Environment Agency will also consider an enclosed flare to provide the best environmental performance for treatment of waste gases from onshore oil and gas operations during exploration.
We have one of the most robust regulatory regimes in the world for shale gas and we insist on high standards of health safety and environmental protection.
[1] Mackay-Stone report (requested by DECC), Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Shale Gas Extraction and Use, Sept 2013 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/237330/MacKay_Stone_shale_study_report_09092013.pdf
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the level of atmospheric carbon concentration required to prevent harmful ocean acidification; what assessment she has made of the effect of ocean acidification under atmospheric carbon concentration scenarios used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on (a) marine species and (b) coastal populations; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra and DECC have together supported the UK Ocean Acidification Programme to better understand the impacts of climate change on our seas.
Although we are still awaiting the final summary report, outputs from the programme point to a complex range of effects on marine species and ecosystems resulting from the interplay between acidification and temperature increase. The economic effects on coastal populations are uncertain at this point though preliminary work indicates they are likely to be increasingly negative as the century progresses.
However, by reducing emissions in line with the stringent emissions scenario produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6) which is consistent with keeping mean global temperature increase below 2°C, we would significantly increase the options for protection, adaptation and repair of the ocean.
This is why the UK Government is seeking ambitious global action on climate change this month in Paris to protect our oceans in the future.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what definition the Government uses of a green or low carbon job for the purposes of collating official statistics and announcements.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Broadly, the green and low carbon area consists of goods and services designed for the protection of the environment; the production of renewable energy and the reduction of carbon emissions (either in the production of the relevant goods or services or in the use of the relevant goods or services).
There is no internationally agreed definition of green or low carbon, however the government has previously collected and published information on the size of low carbon and environmental goods and services sectors in the UK and is currently considering ways in which our understanding of this area can be improved, including discussing the role that ONS can play.