Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of money estimated, allocated, owing or spent, by him, on the purchase of carbon credits in respect of Kyoto Protocol commitments for 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35805/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The National Climate Change Strategy signalled the possibility of supplementing greenhouse gas emission reductions with the purchase of up to 3.6 million carbon units on average each year in the five-year Kyoto Protocol commitment period 2008-2012 or 18 million units in total, costing €270m, at a projected unit price of €15. Under the Carbon Fund Act 2007, the National Treasury Management Agency has been designated as purchasing agent for the State. In 2008, the Agency purchased 3.455m certified emission reduction units at a cost of some €53m. In 2009, they have purchased 1.8m units at a cost of some €21.6m. These units were generated under the Clean Development Mechanism provided for in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol.

The economic downturn has implications for the purchasing programme. The most recent EPA projections suggest that with full implementation of all announced emission reduction measures the purchase requirement for carbon units will now be between 1.3 and 1.8m units per annum over the 2008-2012 period. In the circumstances, the National Treasury Management Agency has been asked to put its purchasing programme on hold for the foreseeable future.

Prior to the designation of the National Treasury Management Agency as purchasing agent, my Department committed €10 million each to the Carbon Fund for Europe and the BioCarbon Fund operated by the World Bank. Management of these investments is a matter for my Department and, since enactment of the 2007 Act, payments are made through the Carbon Fund process as they arise. In 2008, my Department refunded €3.72m to the Carbon Fund in respect of these investments in the World Bank in 2007. To date in 2009 two further payments amounting to €1.9m have been made to the Carbon Fund for Europe.

In December 2006, my Department entered into an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to invest €20 million in the Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund. The investment was made in 2006 on foot of a once-off provision from the Department's vote. Purchasing requirements to ensure Kyoto compliance are being kept under review and will be revised as necessary in the light of future projections.