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 Tony Blair (Labour) on Monday, 14 November 2005 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Climate Change

Question: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list policy commitments he has made relating to climate change since 1997.

Answer: The UK Climate Change Programme, published in November 2000, sets out the Government's strategic approach to tackling climate change, including our policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ensure we meet our target under the Kyoto Protocol and to move us towards our domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. Significant policies the Government have put in place to reduce emissions include the renewables obligation, the climate change levy and climate change agreements, and the voluntary greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme—the first such economy-wide trading scheme in the world.The programme also explained how climate change will affect the UK and the action we are taking to prepare for this. We are reviewing the programme, looking at how existing policies are performing and the range of policies that we might put in place in future. In the Energy White Paper, published in February 2003, we said we would put the UK on a path towards a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of some 60 per cent. by about 2050.

Secondary information