Job Application and ensuing row

To:

"Councillor Andrew McKinlay" cllr.andrew.mckinlay@cheltenham.gov.uk

Dear Andrew

Further to our email correspondance, I write to apologise to you for the childish sarcasm.

A bit of humour to illustrate such a serious issue as climate change is clearly not appropriate to you.

If you want to understand how serious people are now taking climate change, then read here:

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/89180

Maura Harrington planned to end her hunger either by death or the stopping of Shell's proposed new pipe line, so concerned is she by climate change.

Can you confirm that hunger strikes rather than childish sarcasm would be a better method of pursuading councillors of the folly of allowing Staverton Airport to expand?

Could I also suggest that you go and read some books.

Kevin Lister

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Dear Mr Lister,

I fear there is little else to say. I am saddened to hear that you intend to continue making a fool of yourself in this way.

Can I ask that you delete me from your mailing list?

Regards

Cllr Andrew McKinlay

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Dear Andrew,

Maybe a childish bit of sarcasm. However, that is a lot less damning than expecting the tax payer to back a multi million pound investment at the start of an economic collapse.

It is also a lot less damaging than the CO2 emissions that will come from the additional flights from the airport, especially at a time when we are staring down the barrel of the fully loaded climate change gun. Supporting this airport is an insult to those of us that are doing everything that we can to minimise our emissions.

In case you have not noticed, the airport has publicly tried to claim that they are not expanding. However the job advert confirms that they are.

Maybe you might want to clarify exactly were you stand on the airport and how you reconcile yourself with their lies.

And finally, we will not stop until the airport expansion proposals are finally off the table.

Kevin

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email from: "Councillor Andrew McKinlay"

Dear Mr Lister,

I'm not sure who you are trying to impress by doing this.

Can I take this opportunity to make it clear that I am not impressed by this pathetic stunt.

Clearly not content with giving us your ill researched views on the impact of air travel in Gloucestershire, you have now decided to treat us all to a taste of your childish sarcasm.

Please stop!

Cllr Andrew McKinlay

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Dear Rob Dobney,

I enclose my details for the position that you have been advertising:

Aerodrome, Approach and Approach Radar Controller

I would be delighted to join a company which has such positive expansion proposals, and is clearly totally immune to the world wide credit crunch and recession. As your advert points out , you have a “rapidly expanding market offering point-to-point, niche services, which are a cost effective, viable alternative to scheduled services from major airports saving that most precious of business commodities, time.” It would be a great privilege to serve those members of the public that are able to afford the luxury of private jets and who are not bothered with the minor inconvenience of their climate change impact.

I am also delighted that your advert mentions “Significant operational developments

are also planned, including removing obstacles from the runway ends and installing ILS, further enhancing commercial capabilities.” It would indeed be an exciting career move to be part of this development. As your organisation is owned by Gloucester and Cheltenham Councils, it would be great to know that I am helping to use to the tax payers money to subsidise holidays and private jet operations.

Please let me know when the interviews are being held. I look forward to attending.

I am reasonably well know to the airport management and therefore, should not have to bother providing references. However, if necessary, they can be provided.

Regards,

Kevin Lister

Comments on minutes from Andrew Slight

Dear Kevin

Thank you for your summary of our conversation on the 26th August.

From my perspective, the points that we agreed were:

* That climate change is a massive issue that requires urgent action.
* That you (on behalf of Biofuelswatch) would send us your response to the Gallagher Review to help inform our thinking, particularly on your claim that it does not take into account the impact on the biosphere.

* That Tesco will continue to engage with the debate and the science and that this is still not fully settled.

On the basis of the above, I look forward to the scientific views that you provide us with in due course.

Kind regards,
Andrew

Minutes of Telecom with Tesco regarding biofuels

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for making time for the telecom on Tuesday, 26^th August. To reiterate the main points of our conversation and agreements that we came to:

• The CO₂ levels in our atmosphere are far in excess of past measurements. As a result we are in uncharted territory. It is thus difficult to predict with any accuracy the resultant temperature that the climate will stabilise at, other than to conclude it will be far in excess of today's temperatures and most probably not conducive to life on earth.

• As a consequence of this build up of CO2, we face the very real prospect of catastrophic climate change. To have any chance of avoiding this, we must preserve what we can of our biosphere to allow CO₂ to be removed from our atmosphere.

• I have explained to you that preservation of our biosphere is not compatible with expanding biofuels.

• You have agreed that Tesco proceeded down the route of biofuel, along with other companies, before the science was fully settled.

• You said that Tesco's are preparing a response to the Gallagher report. I have agreed to provide information to you that will support your response.

• I have explained that the the concept of biofuel fails when one factors in the loss of CO₂ absorption from the atmosphere. I explained to you that given that extremely high CO₂ in the atmosphere then the first priority must be to have a functioning biosphere that allows the CO₂ to reduce. I further pointed out to you that that Gallagher report does not cover how this loss of CO₂ absorption will be covered following biofuel developments.

• I also explained that the conclusions of the Gallagher report, i.e. that we should slow down the introduction of biofuel targets is not compatible with underlying message of the report, which is largely that biofuel use leads to increased CO₂ emissions due to land use change. I also explained that the main justification that the Gallagher report uses for its final position is to preserve the biofuel industry and to ignore the risk to the environment. This is clearly an unsustainable position.

• I explained my demand, that Tesco divest from Greenergy and support calls for a moratorium on biofuel. You have explained that Tesco will consider solid scientific evidence towards this demand.

• I have explained to you that those objecting to biofuel, ranging from individual protestors such as myself to world organisations such as the UN World Food programme are all losing the battle on biofuel as more land gets converted to biofuel, more money gets invested into biofuel and new government targets are being imposed.

• Finally, I explained to you that it is increasingly clear that our economy is a zero sum game as limits to growth are appearing simultaneously in numerous areas, e.g. food supply, water availability, CO₂ build up. In a zero sum game, (such as chess) one person's gain is another person's loss and no additional resources come into play. In a zero sum game, the only strategy to adopt is competition. This is a nightmare scenario which all sides must recognise and do all to avoid. It places a special onus on organisations such as yours to take full cognisance of the available science to avoid further damage.

A copy of the presentation outlining the position is attached. I will provide the information that you request within the next 4 weeks.

These minutes will be posted on my blog.

Regards,
Kevin Lister

Letter to David Drew MP - following Climate Camp at Kingsnorth Power Station

Dear David,

I was at the climate camp last week. As you may have seen on the news, the police response was completely totally over the top and was blatant oppression. We had helicopters over us during the night to stop us sleeping, we had helicopters over us during the day to stop us talking. We were searched when entering and leaving the camp. The camp was frequently attacked by riot police at 5:00 am. This is a disaster for free speech and could be taken out of the worst nightmares from George Orwell.

As you are aware, climate change is going to become a bigger and bigger issue and it will become more contentious. The authorities, who are clearly frightened were this will lead, are taking the worst possible approach to this by driving us towards a police state.

Further to this, Eon has been successful in getting a misleading message across about how clean the new power station will be compared to the existing station that they plan to replace. They have kept reiterating that the new power plant will be 20% more efficient that the existing. However, in Eon's environment statement it says that the power plant operates at 37% efficiency, so the 20% improvement will merely raise the efficiency to 45%. So the absolute improvement is only 8%. Furthermore, the existing power plant is rated at 450MW and the new power is 800MW, representing an increase in emissions of 77% . With their projected increase in efficiency, the total emissions from the power plant will increase by 63%. This picture of massively increasing emissions is completely counter to that presented by Eon and is disastrous when we now face the prospect of catastrophic climate change.

I would therefore like the following question to be asked to the either John Hutton, or Malcom Wicks:

"Can ministers confirm that the absolute increase in efficiency at Kingsnorth Power station is only 8%, based on Eons environment statement (page 4). Also given that the output of the new plant is planned to be 77% higher that the existing plant, then the total CO2 emission increase is 63% once the efficiency improvement is taken into account. Can ministers explain how this is justified in light of the government's climate change bill?"

Also you may have seen the article in the Guardian by Prof Watson, the chief advisor to DEFRA, who states that the fight against climate change is now lost and that we should focus on adapting to a 4 deg C increase. Adaptation to a 4 deg C increase will be done by dieing in our billions and taking the natural world down with us. To give the lie that we can adapt to a change of this order, is the worst spin that has yet been thrown at us.

If no questions have been asked on this, could you ask:

"Can ministers explain what adaptation is possible if we get the 4 deg C temperature increase that Prof Watson warns, given that our cities will be flooded, our food chains will have collapsed and we will be managing a massive environmental refugee crisis. Is is not better to ban the building of more fossil fuel power stations, such as Kingsnorth, to invest in nuclear and renewables, and immediately start the implementation of a carbon rationing scheme?"

Protesters injured at Tesco's Subsiduary company following failure to deliver sustainability report

Dear Sir Terry,

Following our repeated requests from your organisation for sustainability reports for your biofuel products, we have still not received any further information. I summarise below the statements that your organisation has provided so far:

1.Your organisation stated that your biofuels were sustainably sourced and environmental audits could be provided.
2. After email correspondence your organisation admitted that the science supporting biofuel was no longer clear and that you would be commissioning a study with Manchester University which would be made publically available.
3. We asked for a copy of the remit that you would provide Manchester University and a timescale for delivery of the report. We received no response.
4. We contacted Manchester University and they confirmed that no remit could be agreed.
5. Your Andrew Slight was commissioned to look at the situation and confirmed Tesco's policy was to provide a sustainability report as initially promised.

As a result of your continued delay to provide any assurances on the sustainability of your biofuel products and the gravitas of the problem of biodiversity loss and global warming, my colleagues have been left with no option but to blockade your subsidiary company, Greenergy to highlight the consequences of your policies.

You should be aware, that this protest brought about by your policies and inability to provide evidence of sustainablity has resulted in several of my colleagues being seriously injured.

We now view your organisation's inability to provide the evidence that we have reasonably requested extremely seriously

This email will be post on my blog.

Kevin Lister

other web address for the Fairford Airshow organisers

The following email was also left on the RIAT web site for the organisers of the airshow:-

To the RIAT director:

Some other web sites you may want to comment on:-

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/403310.html

and

http://www.planestupid.com/

Further email to the organisers of Fairford

The following note, was handed into the director of the Fairford Airshow (self proclaimed as the worlds biggest military tattoo), click on the picture to see a full size version or click here

The following email was left on the RIAT web site, just in case the director did not get the hard copy.


Copy of email sent to the organisers of the world biggest tattoo:

In case the director of the RIAT does not get the note I left for him today, he can see it on my blog, see http://kevsclimatecolumn.blogspot.com/. Please make sure that this important message is passed to him

Also, I see that you have removed the poster that we marked up with CO2 warning signs yesterday. Don't worry, we have done others in the area as well so people get the message. We will leave it as a challenge for you to find them.

We note the signs are not recycleable.

Kevin

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P.S. I am delighted to say that the organisers have spotted out protest, see http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688607

Email to organisers of the Fairford Airshow

For the attention of the Airshow Director:

• Within the past month , James Hanson (NASA's chief climate change scientist) has warned that "unless we can cut our CO2 emissions in the atmosphere to 350 ppm within the next couple of years we are toast." To put it in context, we are currently at 450 ppm CO2 equivalent.
  
  
• Within the last month it has been reported there is a 50% chance of being able to sail to the North Pole this summer. If this happens we will hit one of our key climatic tipping points.
  
  
• Within the past month an amendment has been tabled to increase the CO2 cut from 60% to 80% in the climate change bill. If passed, it will result in an unprecedented change to our society.
  
  
• The United Nations Human Development report has said ignoring climate change is a crime against humanity, and on a par with the atrocities of the Second World War.
  
  
• The CIA has said climate change is our biggest threat.
  

So, our reaction to this is to stamp the largest possible carbon foot print on the ground by having an airshow which will fly planes in from all over the world to make the business of dropping bombs appear more family friendly than the business of climate change.

We offer a challenge. We will paint out as many of your signs as we can before the weekend to raise awareness of the environmental damage you will be causing. You try and stop us.

Fairford

Dear All Readers,

It is 7 days to the Fairford Airshow.

Drop me an email to let me know if you are coming.

Kevin

Thanks to David Drew for Organising a public debate on the climate change bill

David,

Thank you for organising tonights debate. Click here for the presentation.

Without these kinds of open discussion full public understanding and engagement in the implications of the climate change bill will not happen and it will be dead in the water. What you have done is testimony to your commitment to tackle climate change.

Already some people who were there and not in your constituency have already said that they are going to contact their MPs to start the same processes going.

This email will appear on my blog!!

Kevin

Use of supermarket cooking oil for biofuel - opinion please from Tesco

Dear Andrew,

In your last email, to me you said that if I had any scientific evidence, I should send it to you. Though not scientific in the true sense of the word, I had an interesting and upsetting experience in my local supermarket (not Tesco) shortly after I sent my last email. I thought you would like you to know about it and that you may wish to investigate for it happening in your own stores.

As I went to the shelf to buy some cooking oil, the gentleman in front of me was filling his shopping trolley with virtually the entire complement of the shops stock of cooking oil. His full shopping trolley had nothing else other than cooking oil, I estimated that he had about 40 bottles. I asked him what he was doing. He told me he was using the cooking oil to make diesel and was somewhat proud of the fact. I told him in no uncertain terms that this was for cooking. He argued back saying that he had left some on the shelf. In fact he had left three bottles on the shelf. One of which I bought. As it was still early evening, it was clearly going to be tough luck for anyone else coming into the store.

The supermarket in question clearly had no policy on preventing single customers bulk buying and the cashier took his money without question.

I do not believe that I have witnessed the only incident of this kind in the country, and suspect that it is frequently happening elsewhere in the country.

Given your organisation's inability to define a remit for a sustainablity study, I would be interested in your position on customers buying large quantities of cooking oil for subsequent home conversion into biofuel and depriving the other customers (like me) of essential ingredients and wonder if this could be incorporated into any study that you ultimately commission.

Yours,
Kevin Lister

Response to Andrew Slight - we will help in the biofuel sustainablity study

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for replying on behalf of Sir Terry and attempting to clarify Tesco's position. However, I am still not clear on your position, and request further clarification.

Firstly, I am clearly pleased that Gary Anderson's position reflects Tesco's biofuels policy. To be clear Gary Anderson stated that "To help us and others understand the true impact of biofuels we have asked the independent Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI) based at Manchester University to investigate." After Gary's email, I asked for a copy of the remit that the SCI would be working to and the timescale of deliverables. He provided neither and advised that he considered the matter closed.

I have since contacted the SCI directly (email 2nd July). They have confirmed that they have not started work as a remit cannot be agreed with your organisation and they have absolutely no timetable of deliverables. See my blog for a copy of the correspondence. As per my previous request to Gary, please confirm when the remit will be completed and provide a copy of this. As the SCI report is to be made publically available, I am sure that you will have no problem releasing a copy of the remit.

Your statement "It is suppliers of biofuels rather than retailers that will be required to produce a sustainability report under the terms of the RSPO," implies that your organisation is washing its hands of its moral responsibility to ensure sustainability of its products. Again, I would request that you provide copies of the suitability reports that your main suppliers are obliged to produce under the RTFO legislation. I find it hard to believe that your organisation would be so negligent as to not request copies of these documents during contract negotiations. As you are probably aware from reviewing correspondence, Gary had previously confirmed that progress against sustainability commitments could be monitored and audited at any time. As you are probably aware, I have not received any. To finally settle this matter, can you confirm if any audit reports are actually available.

Furthermore, Tesco is a 25% stake holder in Greenergy. It defies belief that you did not do an environmental audit of their products at the time of the acquisition.

If you still have no sustainability documents, could you provide me contact details within your supplier organisations, so that I can contact them on your behalf. I will of course keep you copied in on any communications.

You say that when you made the commitment to biofuels, "many NGOs, and experts believed that biofuels could make a positive contribution to tackling climate change." You should also have been aware, that many NGOs and experts were also saying that biofuels would not provide an answer. They argued that it would displace food production and reduce the planets capacity to absorb CO2. It is therefore important that you engage the correct NGOs during your review to ensure that you do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Can you confirm if you are going to contact organisations such as Biofuels Watch that has specific and detailed expertise on the impact of biofuels and Oxfam that has been highlighting the human rights violations as a consequence of biofuels.

In response to your request for me to send further information on the impacts of biofuels that would help you decide, I would be delighted to oblige. However, you should first try any of the main institutions of the world, such as the United Nations, the World Food Programme, etc. You can also do a Google search on the subject. If this still fails, my colleges and I, who are planning to visit your headquarters, would be delighted to meet with yourselves to press our case and present the compelling scientific evidence that you request. Unlike the £25m SCI study, we will do this at no charge to yourselves, thereby guaranteeing independence.

Kevin Lister

Email from Manchester Uni SCI - no Tesco Remit agreed for biofuel sustainablity investigation

Kevin-

Thank you for getting in touch with the SCI. I'm sorry I did not get back to you sooner but I needed to check on the status of the research first and the academic investigator leading on biofuels is out of the country.

I have now heard back and I am informed that the research has not yet started and the remit for the project is still under discussion. I hope this helps for the moment. Do check back in the future if you wish.

Best regards,
Richard Seeley SCI


Kevin Lister
30/06/2008 14:57
To
richard.seeley@manchester.ac.uk
cc
Subject
Tesco's biofuel and sustainablity project

Dear Richard,

Tescos claim on their web site (http://www.tescocorporate.com/page.aspx?pointerid=A3EE32094AE5421F996145DAF961BDDD) that they have engaged yourselves to look at the true impact of biofuels and that all your research will be made public.

I have previously asked Tesco for a copy of the remit under which this work has been commissioned and timescales for the study, but they provided neither of these. I would be grateful if you could advise me where the study has got to, and the timetable for the release of public material.

Your report would be particulary helpful for me (and others) to understand biofuel impacts, as Tesco has said that sustainablity of the biofuel that they sell is an issue for their suppliers and not for them, and consequently they do not have sustainablity reports that I can review.

Yours,
Kevin Lister

Biofuel damage is not Tesco's fault, it is their suppliers!!

Dear Mr Lister,

Thank you for your e-mails of 7 June and 26 June to Sir Terry Leahy about our policies on biofuels. I have been asked to reply on Sir Terry's behalf.

Having reviewed the previous correspondence between yourself and our Customer Services department, please let me assure you that the comprehensive replies set out by Gary Anderson reflect our biofuels policy and not the subsequent correspondence with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Scott Mackay. Please accept my apologies for this misunderstanding.

As Gary explained, we originally committed to biofuels because we believed, as did many other experts including Governments and NGOs, that biofuels could make a positive contribution to tackling climate change, and also help other challenges associated with petrol and diesel that you have mentioned on your blog such as peak oil and fuel security. The debate has become more complex and we are fully engaged in it.

In response to your specific request, it is suppliers of biofuels rather than retailers that will be required to produce a sustainability report under the terms of the RSPO. Our commitment to biofuels is based on a belief that they can play a positive role to tackle the environmental challenges posed by current transport fuels if they are sourced sustainably. For example, palm oil derived from deforested areas would clearly have a detrimental impact on the environment so the challenge that our main supplier is addressing is how we can avoid palm oil from these areas.

As with all our policies, we review regularly in the light of sound science, customer demand and our commitments to tackling environmental issues and climate change in particular. We are also engaging with environmental NGOs to improve our understanding. We welcome any new research that clarifies the impacts of biofuels and particularly welcome the Government’s review of the indirect impacts, which I understand is due to be released very soon.

In the meantime we will continue to use our own knowledge, based on the latest scientific research and our experience as a food retailer to try and ensure that in our supply chain, the ingredients in the biofuels are sourced sustainably. I believe that trying to meet this challenge is a more responsible approach than turning our backs so that we can make good decisions on the basis of sound science.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to clarify our policy so that it can be properly represented. I would also like to emphasise that we have always viewed biofuels as one of many ways to help customers and our distribution fleet manage their environmental impact. As someone who cares deeply about the environment and climate change in particular, I hope you will recognise the other work we are doing on climate change, which is detailed in our latest Corporate Responsibility report at :

http://www.tescoreports.com/crreview08/climate-env/climate-position.html.

If you have further scientific research specifically on biofuels and their sourcing that you believe will help our understanding, please send it to me.

Kind regards
Andrew Slight

Biofuel movie for Sir Terry

Dear Sir Terry,

To remind you, I still have not recieved a copy of a sustainablity report for your biofuels and will be pursuing this under the freedom of information act, especially as this is supposed to be a publically available document.

In case your organisation is having trouble writing such a document, I hope that you will take the time to watch the movie available at this address:

http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/sam/videos/in_the_name_of_oil_palm.mp4/view

I hope that we will be able to discuss it when we come down to your offices in the near future.

Kevin Lister

Freedom of Information request for Tesco Biofuel Sustainability Report

Dear Matthew,

Further to the statement in the letter you sent which stated the Department of Transport's requires biofuels suppliers to "report on greenhouse gas savings and wider sustainability," I am formally requesting that your department provides copies of the available reports on greenhouse gas savings and wider sustainability associated with biofuels from transport fuel suppliers under the freedom of information act.

As Tesco have claimed to be the biggest supplier of biofuels and with aspirations to double the amount sold, (see extracts from their environmental statement or here), I would at first like you to provide copies of the Tesco biofuel sustainability reports. I have previously asked for copies of the sustainability reports which Tesco has said can be audited at any time to be provided, but received nothing from them.

This email will be forwarded to Tesco, my local MP, a hard copy will be sent to the Deptartment of Transport, and it will appear on my blog.

Regards,
Kevin Lister

Can we see a biofuel sustainablity report??

Dear Sir Terry,

As you are hopefully aware, your Scott MacKay sent an email saying that Tescos were washing their hands of moral culpability in the provision of biofuel as it was now government policy and he apologised for any inconvenience that Tesco was causing. In response to this I sent a further letter to the Ruth Kelly to ask her position on the sustainability of biofuels.

Ruth Kelly's office has replied. In their response they stated "All transport fuel suppliers will be required to report on the greenhouse gas savings and wider sustainability." I therefore would be grateful if you could send me a copy of your sustainability report that the government obliges you to prepare. If you not prepared to do this, I will seek a copy of this under the Freedom of Information Act . Furthermore if you have no report, I and a number of my colleagues will come to your offices to speak directly with yourself on the subject.

As regards the wider sustainability aspect of your report, I would also be grateful if you can ensure that it addresses how biofuels will enable reversal of the increasing rate of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, when the fundemental proposition is to burn the planet's lungs. See the graph below which is sourced from data on the
NOAA web site.

As usual, a copy of this email will appear on my blog.

I look forward to your reply,

Kevin Lister

Response from Ruth Kelly Office

Matthew Griffin
Aviation Environmental Division 1
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
Zone 1/22
London SW1P4DR
direct line: 020 7944 4874
minicom: 011517
fax: 020 7944 2192
GTN NO: 3533 4874

Email: Matthew.Griffin@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Web Site: www.dft.gov.uk Our Ref: APE 12/5/2 23 May 2008

Dear Mr Lister,

Thank you for your further letter of 17 April to the Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly, about aviation and environmental issues. Your letter has been passed to me and I have been asked to reply.

Firstly, with regard to biofuels. The demand for biofuels is only one factor affecting food prices. The smaller harvests of 2006 and higher production costs due to increased fertiliser costs have also contributed. The Government will ask the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) to monitor how markets are affected by growing biofuel demand and we expect that the RFA will include an assessment of these effects in its annual report to Parliament. The UK Government will continue to gather evidence on the impacts of biofuel use to help ensure that targets are set at appropriate levels.

In the longer term, second generation biofuel technologies have the potential to reduce pressure on land because they can use a wider range of feedstocks, including waste.

On 21 February the Government announced a review, led by the RFA, of the emerging evidence on the indirect impacts of biofuel production, and what these mean for future biofuel policies and targets. The review will look at the wider environmental and economic impacts and will also take into account evidence concerning food security issues. An initial analysis will be provided to Ministers as soon as possible, with a full report to follow in late June. The review should help to ensure that we have the right evidence base to support decisions on the future of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) scheme and longer-term targets.

In the absence of agreed international standards on the sustainability of biofuels, the Government has incorporated sustainability safeguards into the RTFO. All transport fuel suppliers will be required to report on the greenhouse gas savings and wider sustainability impacts associated with their biofuels in order to claim any credit for them under the RTFO.

We have also made clear that our agreement to future EU biofuel targets is conditional on our being satisfied that they can be met sustainably. We will be negotiating hard over the months ahead to ensure that the relevant EU legislation requires all biofuels to meet robust, mandatory sustainability standards. We have set stretching targets to demonstrate the level of performance that we expect from transport fuel suppliers in this area.

We will be asking the RFA to report regularly on the impacts of the policy, and on the performance of different transport fuel suppliers against the targets. We want this process to be as open and transparent as possible, and further information can be obtained via the RFA's website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/rfa/.

With regard to the other points you raise, I will respond as you set them out in your letter.

Point 1 - We have not ignored the IPCC report. The UK has acknowledged that climate change is the biggest single issue that we face and we are taking action. However, we must acknowledge that the UK can not act alone in tackling climate change which is why we are taking the lead both in proposing our Climate Change Bill which will enshrine domestic emissions reductions in UK law, and in leading for tough targets in the post-Kyoto process. That is not to say we shouldn't take action now and in fact we are doing so.

With particular reference to aviation, the UK has a comprehensive strategy which is in line with the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and promotes the use of economic instruments, alongside investment in research and development and removal of barriers to behavioural change.

As set out in the previous letter, the UK supports a truly global solution for an international industry such as aviation. However progress on a global scale has been slow and therefore the UK supports the inclusion of aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme as the key priority.
In terms of investment in research and development both governments and industry have a role to play, and work on this has been in place for several years for example the UK Government has been involved in the EU-led QUANTIFY project and the establishment of the OMEGA knowledge transfer network. More recently the Commission launched the joint Clean Sky Technology Initiative worth €1.6bn over seven years. This investment has been alongside improvements which have made the operations of both airports and airlines more efficient, for example where possible aircraft, use the Continuous Descent Approach when landing which can save about 1% of total fuel per aircraft.

Point 2 - As explained before, emissions from international aviation are not included in the targets of the Climate Change Bill as there is currently no agreement on how to allocate these international emissions to national inventories. The Bill does, however, cover CO2 emissions from domestic flights.

The Climate Change Bill includes provisions which would enable Ministers to include international aviation emissions in UK totals in the event of developments in international carbon reporting practices for the sector. The UK Government is not discounting or ignoring these international emissions. The fact that emissions from international aviation are not included in the draft Climate Change Bill does not mean that we are not taking action to tackle the climate change impacts of aviation. As stated above, such a truly international industry like aviation requires a global solution and we are pressing internationally through both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for this. We will also ask the new independent Committee on Climate Change to look at the implications of including international aviation in the UK's targets, as part of its overall report on the UK's 2050 target.

The Future of Air Transport White Paper sets out our commitment to ensuring that aviation reflects the full costs of its climate change emissions and highlights that the most efficient way of doing this is through a well-designed, international emissions trading scheme.

Point 3 - This would be a matter for the Home Office. For further information on policing, you may wish to contact them directly.

Point 4 - The additional 1,300 carriages announced in last year's rail white paper for the period 2009 - 2014 are estimated to result in a direct increase in annual rail CO2 emissions of 117,000 tonnes. This is only partially offset by a fall of 15,000 tonnes in car CO2 emissions from travellers switching to rail.

The Committee on Climate Change has been tasked with advising the Government on future 5 year carbon budgets. Their advice is expected by the end of 2008. To help inform the Government's response to these recommendations, this department is currently analysing how the carbon emissions of different transport modes including rail are likely to change in the period up to 2022. Part of this process involves considering the implications for diesel and electricity consumption (including how the power generating mix is expected to change over time, for example through an increased use of renewables). As this work is still underway, we are unable to provide any detailed figures at present.

Point 5 - It is not Government policy to reduce demand. The White Paper recognises that while simply building more and more capacity to meet demand would not be a sustainable way forward, there is a need for some additional airport capacity so that the economic and social benefits of air travel to the UK can be realised.

As you are aware, Government policy on aviation is set out in the Future of Air Transport White Paper. The Government has set out a sustainable way forward taking into account the social, environmental and economic factors.

Point 6 - In 2003 the Government outlined its support for a third runway at Heathrow. This was contained in the 'Future of Air Transport'White Paper. The White Paper made clear that this support is conditional on meeting strict local noise and air quality limits. It also said that scope for making greater use of the two existing runways should be explored, subject to the same environmental conditions. The consultation presents the outcome of our assessment of these options and invites views. We want our final policy decisions to be based on the full range of evidence including that from those most directly affected.

We are now analysing all the responses received during the consultation period. Following this work, advice will be prepared for ministers so that decisions can be taken on each of the consultation issues later this year. Ministers will take account of all the evidence, including responses to the consultation, in reaching final policy decisions, which are expected later in 2008.

I hope you find this helpful.

Yours sincerely

Matthew Griffin

Copy of presentation given on Carbon Rationing

Click here to see copy of presentation on carbon rationing. Download and save to your disk to see notes on the slides

Government Minister does not care about Tesco's abuse of the environement

Dear David,

Many thanks for raising my question in parliament on biofuels. The answer you got from Jim Fitzpatrick was the predictable rubbish that allows companies like Tesco to continue to take shelter under ill conceived legislation. Jim Fitzpatrick has not answered the fundamental question that you asked which is "what steps will be taken against against those producers, wholesalers and retailers which do not meet these requirements."

I would appreciate if you could press the matter further with the DoT to clarify their position. It is of interest that the even the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil cannot agree on what constitutes sustainable Palm Oil. Their web site proudly shows a huge Palm Oil Plantation, on land that would once have been a biodiverse tropical rainforest, suggesting that sustainability and biofuels do not go together.

Tesco had previously stated in correspondence with me that their biofuel supplies are auditable and these can be provided on request. However, they have not issued these. I would appreciate that you ask the DoT what audit documentation they have requested from major suppliers of biofuels to ensure that biofuels being sold are actually coming from sustainable sources and not leading to further deforestation or destruction of local environments.

A copy of this letter will also be sent to Terry Leahy

Regards,
Kevin Lister