Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Bob Blizzard (Labour). It was answered on Thursday, 2 November 2006 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Marine Bill

Question: I presume that any marine Bill would have to take into account the London convention and the OSPAR treaty. What progress has been made in discussions with other European countries about the compatibility of carbon capture and storage with those international agreements, because surely the lesson from Monday’s Stern report is that we have to get on with carbon capture and storage?

Answer: My hon. Friend makes an important point. As it happens, I was in Germany two weeks ago, meeting my opposite number, the Environment Minister, and we discussed the centrality of carbon capture and storage. Many Members will have heard that China is opening one coal-fired power station every week; it is perhaps less well known that the United States is opening a coal-fired power station every six weeks. Whether we are talking about the most advanced and industrialised country or a newly industrialising country, the issue of how we capture the carbon from coal-fired power generation is critical. That may require some amendments to the London convention, and that is certainly something that we are broaching with our European partners.

Secondary information