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Written question asked by Bill Wiggin (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 November 2005. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Greenhouse Gasses

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what scientific advice the Government have received on the level of greenhouse gas reductions required by 2050 to avoid unacceptable risk of extreme climate change.
Answer

The ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that avoids ““dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system””. As yet there is no consensus on what constitutes this level. It is, however, accepted that dangerous levels will be different for different impact sectors and for different regions.The Environment Council stated in 1996 that adaptation to a global temperature rise of 2C would be possible, but that the impacts associated with a temperature rise greater than 2°C are likely to be severe enough to be classified as ‘dangerous'. A 2°C temperature rise was the starting point for the analysis carried out in preparation for the Energy White Paper, underpinning the conclusion by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution Secretariat that we should put the UK on a path to reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent. by 2050.Our scientific understanding of the links between atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration, the scale of emissions reductions required and the risk of extreme climate change is rapidly developing, but still uncertain. The issue of stabilisation levels of atmospheric greenhouse concentrations was addressed at the Defra-funded international science conference, Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, held in Exeter in February this year. The report of the steering committee concluded that:"““Compared with the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's] IPCC's Third Assessment Report (TAR) there is greater clarity and reduced uncertainty about the impacts of climate change across a wide range of systems, sectors and societies. In many cases the risks are more serious than previously thought””."

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
27914; 439 c1060-1W;439 c1060-1W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Air pollution Climate change Environment protection International cooperation Pollution control
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk