§ 37. Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the conclusions of the EC Environment and Development Ministers meeting on 5 May regarding the signing of an effective convention on biodiversity.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAt the joint Environment and Development Council on 5 May, Ministers reaffirmed their strong support for the conclusion of effective conventions on climate change and on biological diversity, to be signed in Rio.
§ Mr. WareingWhat will be the cost to the British Government of signing the biodiversity treaty, and what amount is being avoided by the United States which that country would have faced if it had signed the treaty? Is it not deplorable that the richest country on earth should seek to evade its responsibilities? Will the Minister tell the Prime Minister that when he assumes the chairmanship of the European Council on 1 July, Britain will expect the European Community, through him, to exert maximum pressure on the United States to take up those responsibilities?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIt is simply not possible to put a figure today on the cost of implementing the biodiversity convention, which will be implemented over many years. It is important that the convention was signed, and most important that it contains more than 150 signatures. We are already giving a great deal of financial assistance to help developing countries with biodiversity conservation. The amount is more than £10 million bilaterally each year. We have committed more than £40 million to the initial funding of the global environmental facility, and nearly 50 per cent. of the funds spent so far in that area have been for biodiversity.