To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the proportion of carbon dioxide emissions arising from landfill activities in the latest period for which figures are available. (285559)

I have been asked to reply.

According to the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, landfill activities accounted for 3.2 per cent. of UK total emissions in 2007. This is from methane and corresponds to 41.5 per cent. of UK total methane emissions in 2007. The UK agrees with the assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the proportion of carbon dioxide in landfill gas is about 50 per cent. The UK does not separately estimate emissions of carbon dioxide from landfills because to do so would be to double count with carbon stock changes estimated in the land-use, land-use change and forestry sector. This is in accordance with the international guidelines for reporting greenhouse gases to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.