Comments to P.206/2009 climate change Copenhagen conference petition

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A decision made 29 January 2010 regarding: Comments to P.206/2009 climate change Copenhagen conference petition.

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2010-0016
Decision Summary Title	Request to Lodge Comments in respect of P.206/2009		Date of Decision Summary:	27 January 2010
Decision Summary Author :	Assistant Director for Environmental Policy		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title:	Climate Change: Copenhagen Conference Petition: comments of the Minister for Planning and Environment in respect of P.206/2009		Date of Written Report:	n
Written Report Author	Assistant Director for Environmental Policy		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	public
Subject: Climate Change: Copenhagen Conference Petition - comments from the Minister for Planning and Environment in respect of P.206/2009
Decision(s): To present comments in support of the Deputy of St Mary’s Proposition on Climate Change: Copenhagen Conference Petition (P206/2009)
Reason(s) for Decision: To approve the presentation of comments in respect of P.206/2009
Resource Implications: None
Action required: To request the Greffier of the States to present the attached comments.
Signature: Senator F E Cohen		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Comments to P.206/2009 climate change Copenhagen conference petition

P.206/2009

Climate Change: Copenhagen Conference Petition

Lodged au Greffe on 8 th December 2009
by Deputy Wimberely of St Mary

Comments from the Planning and Environment Minister

Introduction

The Deputy of St Mary is requesting that:

The States accept a petition concerning the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

Following publication of the results of the Copenhagen Conference give detailed consideration to the results and report back to the States within 6 months with timelines for action

Comments

The Kyoto Protocol

Jersey became a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol through the UK Government on 7th March 2007 signalling the importance Jersey places upon its global environmental responsibilities in respect of climate change. The Kyoto Protocol requires ‘parties to take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent or minimise the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects, and establishes targets for carbon reduction’.

Jersey does not have a specific allocated carbon budget under the Protocol; instead the Island’s emissions are counted within the UK inventory.

Nevertheless, at the time of the extension it was agreed that Jersey would be ‘expected to introduce, where possible, and having taken into account local circumstances, policies in line with the objectives of the UK Climate Change Programme. In relation to any subsequent commitment periods, Her Majesty’s Government agrees that any obligation upon the Government of Jersey for the reduction of emissions shall be as determined by the Government of Jersey, in conjunction with Her Majesty’s Government, to be what Jersey can reasonably deliver’.

The Copenhagen Conference of Parties

The Copenhagen Conference was intended to bring about the next phase of action in respect of climate change under the Kyoto Protocol.

Therefore the Department was keen to observe the outcomes of the Conference and how Jersey should respond. It is disappointing that legally binding carbon reduction targets could not be agreed by the parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Nevertheless as the petition itself recognises, the general scientific consensus is that emissions must be reduced to at least 80% below their 1990 levels by 2050 to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The Draft Energy White Paper

The vehicle for setting carbon reduction targets and providing a policy framework and timescales within which to deliver them is the Energy White Paper. The targets for carbon reductions are expected to be in line with European Union targets of an 80% reduction on 1990 baseline levels by 2050.

Since the development and consultation on the Energy Green Paper in 2007/2008, the Department has made considerable process not only in developing a White Paper but also in making progress on a number of energy related work streams. These include establishing and securing funding for an Energy Efficiency Service and investigating in detail the long term feasibility of Tidal Power.

The production of a draft Energy White Paper for consultation has been delayed in order to account for the outcomes of the targets and measures adopted in Copenhagen as well as to work further with the fuel suppliers (electricity, gas and oil) to reach a resolution in respect of a disagreement in the carbon intensity of all fuels. The draft White Paper is expected to be out for consultation in Q1 2010 and is expected to be finalised and the White Paper itself bought before the house later in 2010.

An Environment Annual Report

The Deputy of St Mary lodged a successful amendment (P.52/2009) to the States Strategic Plan 2009 – 2014 which asked the Council of Ministers to ‘evaluate on an ongoing basis Peak Oil and Climate Change and report to the States once a year on their impacts on policy for Jersey.’ The first of these annual reports will therefore be due in June 2010.

This annual report will take account of these issues and any emerging comment and evaluation of the Copenhagen Conference in the forthcoming months in addition to the Energy White Paper.

Resource Implications

None – the outcomes / implications of the Copenhagen Conference and their delivery are being be incorporated into the Draft Energy White Paper whose work stream is well progressed and accounted for within the Departmental Business Plan as is the production of an annual environment report.

The States Assembly is therefore urged to support the amendment recognising the Minister for Planning and Environment’s proposal to account for the outcomes of Copenhagen within the draft Energy White Paper and the Annual Environment Report as outlined in the comments.