§ 10. Mr. Arthur Jonesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will specify the developments at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment which have provided an opportunity for better co-ordination of international programmes of work on environmental problems.
§ The Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Peter Walker)The Conference recommended new machinery to co-ordinate the activities of the many inter-governmental, non-governmental and United Nations agencies operating in the environmental field. This machinery will comprise a Governing Council for Environmental programmes supported by a Co-ordinating Board and a small secretariat.
§ Mr. JonesI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reply. I know that the contribution of the United Kingdom delegation to the Stockholm Conference was widely acclaimed. I hope that my right hon. Friend will bear in mind—and I should be glad to have an assurance to this effect—that we should not have a proliferation of international bodies dealing with environmental questions.
§ Mr. WalkerI have said that one of the difficulties in my Department has been that there have been so many international bodies that many of the ablest members of my staff have been fully employed in going from one conference to another. This is bad. A rationalisation is to take place.