To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to reduce emissions of (a) sulphur and (b) nitrogen oxide from shipping. (103341)

Under the internationally agreed methodology, greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping are excluded from the national greenhouse gas inventory. They are reported separately as a memo item and, if included, would represent less than 1 per cent. of the UK total CO₂ emissions.

The UK’s approach to the regulation of shipping is to apply international standards to ships flying its flag and to ships entering its ports or operating in UK waters. Work on reducing maritime emissions is co-ordinated by the International Maritime Organisation. At the last Maritime Environment Protection Committee meeting in October 2006, the UK made a significant contribution to difficult negotiations on the adoption of Interim Guidelines for Voluntary Ship CO₂ Emission Indexing for Use in Trials (as well as Guidelines for On-board Exhaust Gas Sulphur Oxide Cleaning Systems). Ships under the United Kingdom flag are being encouraged to participate in these trials, which will help identify a ship’s greenhouse gas index where the information obtained may be used in the context of reducing CO₂ emissions.

The UK has also continued to push for the consideration of measures to reduce harmful emissions of a wider range of greenhouse gases, including nitrogen oxides, and has strongly advocated emissions trading as the most effective tool.