To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has taken to offset his Department’s carbon emissions in the last 12 months. (231915)

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) participates in the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF), through which it offsets all air and rail travel undertaken by the Department’s Ministers and officials.

To date, DEFRA has made provision through GCOF to cancel credits to the amount of 6055.91 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), at a cost of £60,014.07. This covers the years 2005-06 and 2006-07. Figures for 2007-08 are currently being compiled and should be available in the near future.

All offset credits purchased by the GCOF are internationally compliant certified emission reductions (CERs), sourced from small scale abatement projects in developing countries, and approved under the Clean Development Mechanism.