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EU: Environment Council

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Ed Miliband) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. Lord Hunt, Minister for Sustainable Development and Energy Innovation, and I will represent the UK at the Environment Council in Brussels on 4 December. Stewart Stevenson, Scottish Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, will also attend. At the Environment Council, the French presidency will report on progress on the EU climate-energy legislative package. They will also provide briefing on the proposed renewable energy directive. The main outstanding issues on the climate and energy package include the redistribution of a proportion of allowances to the new member states for the purposes of solidarity; how to identify those sectors at risk of carbon leakage and what measures would be appropriate to reduce this risk; and the use of revenues from the auctioning of allowances. The door is still open for agreement on a financing mechanism for the demonstration of carbon capture and storage technology. The presidency will also report on progress on the proposal for a regulation setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars (CO2 from cars) and on the proposal for a directive on industrial emissions—integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC Directive). Furthermore, there will be a policy debate and adoption of council conclusions on the sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and sustainable industrial policy (SIP) action plan. The policy debate is likely to focus on next steps for delivering the plan, ecolabelling, lifestyles and behaviour, and carbon content display for products. Following policy debates, Ministers are due to adopt council conclusions on addressing the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and addressing the global mercury challenges in preparation for the 25th session of the UNEP Governing Council in Nairobi on 16 to 20 February 2009. Under ““Any other business””, the European Commission will present communications on: the dismantling of ships; the EU strategy on invasive alien species, the EU and the arctic region and the implementation of European Community environmental law. Additionally, the European Commission is likely to present a Green Paper on biowaste management in the European Union. Finally, the Irish delegation has asked for a discussion under ““Any other business”” on waste—the fall in demand for recycled materials.