Isramart : Wales right up against it to meet carbon cuts target

Isramart news:
CARBON emissions in Wales will need to come down substantially in 2010 if the Assembly Government is to meet its own target, a new report says.

A briefing paper produced for AMs by the National Assembly’s research department says that between the beginning of 2008 and the end of 2010, emissions need to reduce by 10.5% over the figure for 2007, the latest available.

That means that more than half the 20% overall reduction required since 1990 must be achieved in just three years.

Released as the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit drew to an end, the paper shows how Wales remains the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide per head in the four UK nations.

In 2007, carbon dioxide emissions per head in Wales amounted to 13.1 tonnes, while in Northern Ireland they were 9.0 tonnes and in Scotland and England 8.4 tonnes each.

The paper says: “Wales has performed inconsistently in reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the past 17 years.

“In 2007, total emissions of carbon dioxide were 39Mt [megatonnes], representing a 7.0% decrease since 2006 and 9.5% lower than the base year of 1990.

“In comparison with the other UK countries in 2007, Wales has reduced its emissions by 1% more than the UK average. Scotland has had the largest reduction in emissions, of 14.7%.”

“To reach the 2010 target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20% below the 1990 base year, emissions in Wales will need to be reduced by10.5% in three years.”

The research paper states that electricity generation contributed around 28.9% of total Welsh carbon dioxide emissions in 2007, which is lower than the UK proportion of 32.7%.