Consumption Based Emissions Reporting

Consumption-based emissions reporting

The Department for Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) official CO2 figures - that count territorial emissions from power stations and transport, etc, within UK borders - show nearly 20% reduction between 1990-2009. But research commissioned for the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs reveals that CO2 emissions were 20% higher in 2009 if consumption based emissions - from imported goods - are included. The fall in territorial emissions was not mainly the consequence of the Government's climate policy. Rather it was the result of the shift in manufacturing industries away from the UK and the switch from coal to gas-fired electricity generation that began in the early 1990s. Since 1990 carbon dioxide emissions from imports have almost doubled (from 166 million tonnes (Mt) CO2 to 331 Mt CO2 in 2009). If the UK wishes to encourage emissions reductions in countries that manufacture and export goods to the UK, the MPs say the Government should recognise the growth in the UK's consumption-based emissions. Acknowledging that UK consumption is driving up territorial emissions in other countries could increase the UK's leverage over those emissions and help to secure a binding global agreement on carbon cuts. There is sufficiently robust data available to develop new policy options and identify carbon-intensive behaviours that are overlooked by concentrating on territorial emissions alone. Ministers should explore the options for incorporating consumption-based emissions data in to the policy making process and setting emissions targets on a consumption-basis at the national level.

Greenhouse Gas Protocol

The road to UNFCCC COP 18 and beyond

Europe should set a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% on 1990 levels by 2020 in order to demonstrate political leadership in the run up to UN climate talks in 2015, when political consensus could be reached on a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol. The Kyoto Protocol created an invaluable architecture for future agreements - including common emissions reporting, accounting standards and a compliance system - but it should not be renewed after 2020. Instead, diplomatic efforts should now be focused on reaching a new, and genuinely international, agreement via the promising Platform negotiated last year in Doha. Europe's influence over future international negotiations would be greatly increased if its own economy was decarbonised more. The Human Development Index should be used in future to determine equitably which countries are treated as 'developed' - and required to decrease their emissions immediately. Given the severe fiscal constraints in most developed countries, it is unlikely that the US $100 billion Green Climate Fund target will be reached by 2020 unless an innovative mechanism is developed to budgetary contributions. The UK should exploit its expertise in financial services to develop innovative mechanisms for levering in more private investment. The Government should support moves to eliminate the $400 billion of fossil fuel subsidies across the world, while ensuring that this is done in a way that does not worsen fuel poverty. The Government should also show leadership by acknowledging that consumption in the UK and some other developed countries is driving up territorial emissions elsewhere