To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the total carbon emissions from his Department's buildings in each year since 1997. (89582)

The estimated carbon emissions from DFID UK estate from 1999¹ are:

DFID is strongly committed to the targets set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate which were revised in June 2006. DFID achieved “very good” and “excellent” BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) ratings for the last refurbishments of the UK estate. The increase in levels of carbon emissions in recent years has mainly been due to increased staffing levels, new IT systems/equipment requiring new test and production environments, and more IT equipment supporting our overseas estate.

DFID has recently signed up to the Carbon Trust (CT) Framework Agreement. The CT consultants have now conducted an energy audit of both UK offices and concluded that the buildings are “well operated and maintained” and “inherently energy efficient”. We are nevertheless working with the CT to make further improvements to our energy efficiency through such measures as energy efficiency campaigns.