17th January 2007

MARTYN JONES MP WELCOMES NEW HELP FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO OFF-SET THEIR CARBON EMISSIONS

Parents in Clwyd South are being urged to use their Child Trust Fund vouchers to ensure their children have savings behind them when they reach 18. MARTYN JONES MP for Clwyd South welcomes today's setting off standards for "carbon
off-setting". From now on, people who want to take action to off-set the carbon emissions for which they are responsible will be able to choose a scheme with confidence.

Martyn Jones MP says:

"The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) already gives advice on how people can reduce their energy on consumption and choose greener energy supplies. Now DEFRA is going further, so that where people cause carbon emissions, they can choose a reliable scheme for cancelling out the potential harm (carbon off-setting).

"There has been concern that some of the schemes on offer are not effective. So DEFRA has today announced standards that all schemes will have to meet. This can only help to reassure everyone that even when they cause carbon emissions there is still something they can do to help combat climate change."

David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, said:

"Offsetting isn't the answer to climate change. The first step should always be to see how we can avoid and reduce emissions - through thinking about how we use energy in our homes and businesses, and the way we travel.

"However, some emissions can't or won't be avoided. That's where offsetting has a role to play. It's a way of compensating for the emissions produced with an equivalent carbon saving."

Mr Miliband said that consumers needed an assurance that their offsetting was in fact contributing to an overall reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions.

"People need to be sure that the way they offset is actually making a difference. The Government's standard and code of practice, with a quality mark so people can check easily before they choose an offsetting product, will help to provide that
certainty."