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Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Volume 447: debated on Friday 16 June 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to cut carbon dioxide emissions; and how regularly those steps will be reported on. (77679)

We announced on 12 June that we are taking another important step when it comes to greening Government, by committing to make by 2012 the Government office estate carbon neutral and committing to reduce Government’s total emissions from buildings by 30 per cent.

This action is consistent with the new UK climate change programme, published in March 2006, which sets out the Government’s commitments at international and domestic levels to meeting the challenges of climate change. It also includes a commitment to introduce a new annual report to Parliament on the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and the steps the Government have been taking to reduce these. The first report is expected to be issued in spring 2007.

The UK’s climate change programme 2006 is available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/ukccp/pdf/ukccp06-all. pdf.