UK to Offset Pollution from Jet-Setting Ministers
Date: 29-Dec-06
Country: UK
The government said on Thursday it had bought 255,000 tonnes worth of carbon credits for 2007 to 2009 to counter the pollution from flights taken by Prime Minister Tony Blair and ministers from around 30 other government departments.
It said it had purchased the credits from Trading Emissons Plc, an EEA Fund Management run investment fund which buys into renewable energy projects in developing countries including Brazil, Thailand and the Philippines.
Having agreed to pay 9.76 pounds a tonne, total spending on the measures could rise to as much as 3 million pounds if Whitehall decides to take up an option to buy a further 50,000 tonnes of credits.
The government said that projects invested in were registered under the Kyoto protocol on climate change.
However environmental organisations have criticised a number of the projects for being unsustainable and wreaking havoc on local environments and biodiversity.
Hydro electric schemes have come under the heaviest scrutiny as entire valleys have been flooded to provide the necessary reservoirs to generate power, while tree planting schemes have been condemned for planting unsustainable, non-native tree species in unsustainable areas.
Amid the confusion about the benefits and shortfalls of the various worldwide carbon offsetting schemes, the British government is set to publish a consultation paper on the subject in January and is expected to give its seal of approval on the most environmentally beneficial schemes around three months later.