Report by official intergovernment panel on climate change

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY P.V.F. LE CLAIRE OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 4th DECEMBER 2007

Question

Following recent publication of a new report by the official Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -

1. w hat are the Island's currentenvironmentalcommitments in termsof international agreements,howare they applied in Jersey and are they voluntaryor legally binding?
2. W hat penalties, if any,couldthe Island face if it failed tomaintain any of these agreements?
3. W hatareJersey's current emissions by category as they are contained and identified in these agreements for thelastthree years?
4. W hat targets, if any, are we legally boundto achieve in any ofthese categories?
5. W hat intentions doesthe Minister have, if any, for committingJerseyto carbon reductions in the future?
6. W ould the Minister consideran even greater cut than the UnitedKingdom's long termaimof a 60per cent reduction inCO2 emissions by 2050?
7. D oes theUK'sdecisionto set legally binding limits have any impacton Jersey and has the Department soughtlegaladvicein this regard?
8. W hatproposalsdoesthe Minister have to respond tothequickening pace of global warming?

Answer

1. Jersey is included in a numberofMulti-LateralEnvironmentalAgreementsby extension through the United Kingdom.Theanswerto this questionhas been restricted to the agreement that relates to Climate Change since that appears to be the areaofinterest identified by this question.

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing Greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Of the 172 parties that have ratified the protocol, 36 countries (plus the EU as a party in its own right) are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels specified for each of them in the treaty.

A request was made to the UK Government in December 2006 to extend ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to Jersey and this was confirmed in May 2007. Jersey is included in the UK ratification and so our emissions are counted as part of the UK's carbon budget' and the Island has not been allocated a specific carbon emissions budget. Thus, because Jersey does not have an allocated amount' instead being included in the UK's quota, we do not have a separate enforceable binding target on emissions.

Nevertheless, the Island reports annually to the UK Government (via the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) which reviews our progress.

2. Although Jersey has obligations resulting from theextensionof the Kyotoprotocol, because thereareno specific targets for Jersey there are no specific penalties that we would face as a result of the Convention. The commitments in international law lie with the United Kingdomas the state party. However,given that we report via the UKitis anticipated that shouldouremissionsbegin to rise significantly ourperformance

would be challenged as this would contribute unfavourably to the UK's overall reduction targets.

3. A breakdownofcarbonemissionsby category from 2001aregivenbelow as collated bythe Statistics Unit. Note - Emissions from electricity generated at the energy from wasteplantatBellozanne are not included.

Total road Electricity Household and All less All electricity

transport Generation business generation

2001 34,799 2002 34,256 2003 33,576 2004 32,523 2005 32,074 2006 31,921

17,072 59,718 13,687 58,266 2,392 57,159 6,299 57,676 2,606 54,675 3,781 57,059

111,588 94,516 106,209 92,523 93,127 90,735 96,498 90,199 89,354 86,748 92,761 88,980

4. I r efer the Deputy to the answergiven in part (b).
5. Despite thelackofbinding targets onthe Island inrespectofgreenhouse gas emissionswerecognise that Jersey has animportant role to play in demonstratingglobalenvironmental responsibility. Therefore, I have set out a proposed approach in the Energy PolicyGreenPaper Fuel for Thought?' that is currently out for public consultation. Following the consultation process a WhitePaper will be formulated with firmproposals whichtheStates will beasked to support.

The proposals in the Energy Policy Green Paper aim to achieve secure, affordable and sustainable' energy for Jersey into the future. I would refer the Deputy to Chapter 4 which proposes an Energy Hierarchy'. The first and most important step of the hierarchy is to reduce energy use whilst the second step is to use low carbon fuels. Achieving the aims of both levels will contribute to a reduction in emissions as a result of energy use in Jersey.

The policy puts forward a policy and legislative framework to achieve these aims, including:

• Increasing  the  performance  of  the  built  environment  comprising  the  domestic,  governmental  and industrial sectors to reach a target of a 20% reduction in energy use (Chapter 5);

• Reducing reliance on fossil fuel powered transport in parallel with the aims of the Integrated Travel and Transport Plan (Chapter 6);

• Implementing sustainable energy choices at the utility scale (Chapter 7) and at the community level via microgeneration (Chapter 10) and further exploiting energy recovery from waste (Chapter 8)

6. Jersey already performswell in termsofcarbonemissionswhenmeasured against theagreedbaseline 1990 performance.Since 1990, the Island'semissionshave fallen by32%as a result oftheswitch from on-island oil-fired electricity generation to importednuclear-generated electricity from France.However,we know that Jersey mustdemonstrate a global commitment to best practiceand the proposalsput forward in the Energy Policy GreenPaper are that wereduce carbon emissions by 64% on the baseline year by2050 - which is slightly aheadoftheUK target of60%.

(g)The legally binding targets to which the Deputy refers are not applicable to Jersey but I reiterate that the

intention is that they will be surpassed following the success of the policies and legislative improvements put forward in the Energy Policy Green Paper. As UK legislation does not extend to Jersey, except on the explicit request of the Island authorities, the Department has not considered it necessary to seek legal advice as to the enforceability of the UK's targets. The Island has had an exchange of correspondence with the UK in preparation for the extension of the Kyoto treaty which gives assurance that binding targets will not be extended to Jersey.

(h) Climate Change presents a variety of challenges to the Island as well as some opportunities. The Energy Policy Green Paper explores many of these in Part 4 – Planning and Adapting for Climate Change'. It is

intended that Jersey will play its part to reduce the on-Island contributions to greenhouse gases through the

measures I have described above.

However, the Island must also prepare for the effects of climate change and in particular the green paper highlights the need for preparation by those industries most likely to be first affected by climate change (agriculture, fisheries and to some extent, tourism – Chapter 11). In addition, there will be impacts of a changing climate on local biodiversity and resources and it is highlighted in the consultation paper that this must form part of future planning.

The Energy Policy Green Paper also identifies some of the opportunities presented by climate change. An example would be in the expansion of the compliance market or possibilities in international carbon trading arising from the Island's expertise in the financial sector.