Other supplementary provisions
Section 29: UK emissions and removals of greenhouse gases
149.This section defines the terms “UK emissions”, “UK removals” and “net UK emissions” used in Part 1 of the Act. “UK emissions” are emissions of gases from sources in the United Kingdom; “UK removals” are removals of gases from the atmosphere as a result of land use, land-use change or forestry; “net UK emissions” of a gas are calculated by subtracting the amount of UK removals of the gas from the amount of UK emissions of the gas.
150.Subsection (2) provides that UK emissions and UK removals are to be determined by following international protocols, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Reporting Guidelines on Annual Inventories. Emissions only count for the purposes of this Act if they are emissions of greenhouse gases from anthropogenic sources; non-anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases (for example, emissions from volcanic activity) are not included in the figures (see the definition of “emissions” in section 97).
Section 30: Emissions from international aviation or international shipping
151.This section makes provision about greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation or international shipping. Subsection (1) provides that those emissions do not count as emissions from sources in the United Kingdom (so they do not count as “UK emissions” under section 29(1)(a)) for the targets and budgeting in Part 1, unless regulations make provision for them to do so.
152.Until such time as regulations are made under subsection (1), section 16(5) requires the Secretary of State to report the levels of emissions from international aviation and international shipping, calculated in accordance with international carbon reporting practice (see section 90), in his annual statement to Parliament. See also section 10(2)(i), which requires the Secretary of State to take into account the estimated amount of reportable emissions from international aviation and international shipping in relation to carbon budgets – see the notes on section 10 for more details.
153.Subsection (2) allows the Secretary of State to define in more detail what is meant by “international aviation or shipping” by affirmative resolution order.
154.Subsection (3) requires the Secretary of State, by 31st December 2012, either:
to make provision by regulations setting out the circumstances and extent to which emissions from international aviation or international are to be regarded as being emissions from sources in the United Kingdom. Under the mechanisms in the Act, any emissions regarded as being from sources in the United Kingdom are “UK emissions” (see section 29(1)(a)) and count towards calculating and meeting the 2050 target and the carbon budgets, or
to lay before Parliament a report saying why he has not made any regulations.
155.Subsection (4) makes it clear that even after the five-year period has expired the Secretary of State is still allowed to make regulations setting out the circumstances and extent to which emissions from international aviation or international shipping are to be regarded as being from sources in the United Kingdom.
156.Subsection (5) provides that regulations under this section can only deal with emissions of “targeted greenhouse gases” (see section 24). It also provides that the regulations can, in particular, provide that emissions from international aviation or international shipping will only count as UK emissions if they relate to the transport of passengers or goods to or from the United Kingdom.
157.Subsection (6) specifically allows the Secretary of State to make provision in the regulations about which time periods should be used when calculating UK emissions from international aviation and international shipping, and how emissions in the base year for the gas should be calculated. Subsection (7) allows the Secretary of State to assign a different base year for this purpose, or to assign a number of base years and to treat the average amount of emissions in those years as emissions in the base year. Subsection (8) explains that the base year for carbon dioxide is 1990 (referred to as the “1990 baseline” in section 1).
Section 31: Procedure for regulations under section 30
158.This section sets out the procedures that the Secretary of State must follow before making regulations on emissions from international aviation or international shipping under section 30.
159.Subsection (1) places a duty on the Secretary of State to obtain and consider advice from the Committee on Climate Change. Subsection (2) requires the Committee on Climate Change, as soon as is reasonably practicable after giving its advice to the Secretary of State, to publish that advice in any way it thinks is appropriate.
160.Subsection (3) places a duty on the Secretary of State, if making regulations in a way that differs from the Committee’s recommendations, to publish a statement setting out the reasons for that decision. The statement may be published in any way the Secretary of State thinks is appropriate (subsection (4)).
161.Subsection (5) provides that regulations made under section 30 are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
