Fall in UK greenhouse gas emissions

3 June 2008 12:49pm

Greenhouse gas emissions caused by UK residents fell slightly in 2006.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said emissions dropped by 1.4% between 2005 and 2006, and were 10.5% below 1990 levels - although they had changed little since 1999.

The Environmental Accounts statistics measure the emissions generated by UK households and companies, including their transport and travel activities abroad, and exclude non-residents in Britain.

While there was an overall fall in emissions to 724.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent, greenhouse gases from air and road transport rose slightly.

The figures showed emissions from UK households fell 2.5%, with a 3.8% fall in greenhouse gases caused by heating and cooking. But they were 7.2% higher than in 1990, the Kyoto Protocol "base year" against which levels of greenhouse gases are generally measured, and accounted for a slightly bigger share of overall output.

Non-domestic emissions also fell, by 1.1%, but this was largely due to a major shipping company being bought by a foreign owner, and therefore no longer being counted in the statistics.

Without shipping, the transport and communications sector showed an increase of 1.5% from 2005 to 2006 and emissions from UK owned airlines showed a 1.8% increase, in line with industry growth.

Since 1990, emissions from flying have more than doubled and by 2006 accounted for 6% of total UK greenhouse gases, the ONS statistics showed.

The overall figures show a slightly bigger fall than Government measurements for 2006 based on Kyoto Protocol rules, which cover UK territory only and exclude international shipping and aviation.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) figures for 2006 showed a drop of half a percent in overall greenhouse gases and just 0.1% in CO2 levels on 2005.

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