The Carbon Budget Order 2011

Statutory Instruments

2011 No. 1603

Climate Change

The Carbon Budget Order 2011

Made

29th June 2011

Coming into force in accordance with article 1

A draft of this instrument was laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament, in accordance with sections 8(3) and 91(1) of the Climate Change Act 2008 (“the Act”)(1).

Before the draft was so laid, the Secretary of State took into account—

(a) the advice of the Committee on Climate Change under section 34 of the Act, in accordance with section 9(1)(a) of the Act; and

(b) any representations made by the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers and the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland, in accordance with section 9(1)(b) of the Act(2).

This Order is made in accordance with the duty to set carbon budgets for budgetary periods imposed by sections 4(1)(a) and 8(1) of the Act, and is made with a view to—

(a) meeting the target in section 1, and the requirements of section 5, of the Act(3); and

(b) complying with the European and international obligations of the United Kingdom.

The Secretary of State has taken into account the matters mentioned in section 10(2) of the Act.

Accordingly the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 8(1) of the Act, makes the following Order:

Citation and coming into force

1.  This Order may be cited as the Carbon Budget Order 2011 and comes into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

Carbon budget

2.  The carbon budget for the 2023–2027 budgetary period is 1,950,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Greg Barker

Minister of State

Department of Energy and Climate Change

29th June 2011

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order sets the carbon budget for the 2023–2027 budgetary period (1,950 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent). Carbon budgets set a cap on the maximum level of the net UK carbon account for each five-year budgetary period. The net UK carbon account is defined in section 27 of the Climate Change Act 2008.

A full impact assessment of the costs and benefits of this instrument is available at the website of the Department of Energy and Climate Change: www.decc.gov.uk, and it is also published alongside the instrument and its Explanatory Memorandum on the legislation website of The National Archives (http://www.legislation.gov.uk).

(1)

2008 c.27.

(2)

See the definitions of “national authority” and “the relevant Northern Ireland department” in sections 95 and 96.

(3)

Section 5 is amended by the Climate Change Act 2008 (2020 Target, Credit Limit and Definitions) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1258).