My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Edward Miliband) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and Andy Lebrecht, UKRep, represented the UK at the Environment Council on 21 October in Luxembourg.

Member states reached agreement on the council conclusions concerning the EU position for the forthcoming Copenhagen climate conference. Dinner discussions on 20 October saw early positioning of member states for the following day’s debate and the UK was among those arguing for ambitious conclusions to send a clear signal of intent prior to the international negotiations in December. The council agreed on a text containing three compromises relating to the long-term EU emissions-reduction target, bunker fuels and assigned amount units (AAUs). At lunch, the discussion centred on the need to engage with business and expertise as well as co-ordinating EU messaging and maintaining contact in the run-up to Copenhagen.

Ministers also adopted council conclusions relating to the role of a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy in the post-2010 Lisbon strategy. The UK welcomed the aims of the conclusions.

On the subject of ship dismantling, the council also approved conclusions calling for the early ratification and implementation of the Hong Kong international convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships and inviting the Commission to consider EU legislation in this area.

A policy debate reviewing the restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directives highlighted different views among member states regarding the scope of the directives. The UK raised concerns about moving to an open scope for both directives without proper assessment of the impacts of such a move and this was supported by several other member states. The presidency concluded that most delegations were open to separate scopes for RoHS but that the scope of WEEE needs further reflection.

Ministers also discussed several AOB items: A number of member states highlighted the problem of forest fires. In response to concerns about the cocktail effect of mixtures of chemicals, the presidency confirmed that it would present conclusions to the December Environment Council. Several delegations shared their concern about plastic soup—plastic marine debris floating in the oceans—and this was shared by several other delegations.