Written question asked by Bill Wiggin (Conservative) on Tuesday, 19 July 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 July 2005. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Monday, 12 September 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Climate Change

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate has been made of the change in carbon dioxide emissions that would result from the full implementation of the G8 Plan of Action on climate change.

Answer: Assessments of the change of carbon dioxide emission have been made throughout the drafting and negotiation of the G8 Gleneagles Plan of Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development. Although it is very difficult to quantify the impacts of the package as a whole our assessment of the final Plan of Action suggests that if implemented fully, with full participation from all the countries involved, those measures that can be more easily quantified will deliver annual savings of around 550 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2010—approximately equivalent to the emissions of the UK. By 2030 this is expected to rise to 4,500 MTCO2e—this is equivalent to around 19 per cent. of current global emissions.

Secondary information