Marine Environment (Hansard, 16 July 2003)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)
My Lords, we are making progress on the marine environment. Internationally, we are working to follow up commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to tackle 850 pollution and to protect marine biodiversity. At home, we are pursuing the policies set out in our first Marine Stewardship report published last year.

§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. In terms of our domestic waters, does the Minister agree that it is a great pity that not only have we had policy statements and talking shops from the Government and no legislation, but also, according to the British Geological Survey's report for the World Health Organisation, we are still firing depleted uranium penetrators into UK waters? Perhaps, when Ministers are enjoying swimming in the sea this summer, they might reflect that it is supposed to be an ecosystem and not a dustbin.

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, the noble Baroness will concede that there have been significant improvements in the quality of water along much of our coast. The dumping—if such it were—to which she refers, took place some considerable time ago. We are therefore talking about remedial measures in that as in many other areas. The degree to which we are polluting the sea nowadays has greatly reduced, but it needs to reduce further in terms of off-shore pollution and pollution from shipping.

§ Lord Dixon-Smith
My Lords, the House will remember the tragic disaster earlier this year when an inappropriately named oil tanker—"Prestige"—was obliged to leave Spanish coastal waters. As a result it sank in the open ocean with disastrous consequences across Spanish and French coasts over a very wide area. What plans have the Government put in place since that time to ensure that such a disaster could not occur in British waters?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, as regards pollution from shipping, the Government have been very active in the EU Environment Council and the EU Transport Council and in the International Maritime Organisation to achieve tighter rules and environmental standards for shipping. In the UK, we have also established a pollution control zone consistent with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea which extends up to 200 nautical miles from our coast. The UK Government are in the position of prosecuting the owner of any ship suspected of committing a pollution offence within that 200-mile zone.

§ Lord Faulkner of Worcester
My Lords, is the Minister aware of the delight with which the decision to cease the discharge of nuclear waste—particularly Technetium-99—was received in Norway when the Secretary of State gave an instruction to Sellafield that those emissions should stop? Is he further aware of how important Norway regards this in respect of the preservation of its fishing stocks?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, without necessarily accepting the totality of the Norwegian Government's 851 position, we have instructed BNFL to stop such discharges for a period while further research and development is carried out. I am pleased that the Norwegian Government appreciate that gesture.

§ Lord Maclennan of Rogart
My Lords, has the Minister noticed that the Convention on the Future of Europe has unwisely purported to translate a provision of the European Court of Justice into a constitutional provision giving exclusive competence over marine biodiversity in Union waters to the Union? Will he, and other members of the Government, seek to ensure that this is a shared responsibility enabling coastal states to take action of which they are capable and in which they are interested?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I am aware of that interpretation of the convention. Our understanding of the meaning of the convention is that it does not change the boundary of competencies between the European Union institutions and member states.

§ Lord Glentoran
My Lords—

Lord Berkeley
My Lords—

§ Lord Grocott
My Lords, we have time for both.

§ Lord Glentoran
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord. Is the Minister aware that members of the population of Ireland—both North and South and on the east coast in particular—still believe that the Irish Sea is seriously contaminated from the nuclear station at Sellafield and happenings there?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, at times I have been made extremely aware of the view of the Irish population, both North and South. However, on this issue, the Irish Government brought a legal case which the British Government won.

Lord Berkeley
My Lords, while I welcome the 200-mile zone mentioned by my noble friend, if two tankers were to collide outside this country's territorial limits but within the 200-mile zone, am I right in thinking that a prosecution could be brought only in the countries of registration of the ships concerned, which could be, for example, Liberia?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I shall probably need to consult my noble and learned friend or the precise answer to my noble friend's question. My understanding of the position is that we could prosecute for the pollution so caused, but the question of any failure of seamanship would normally revert to the flag country. However, if my noble friend will be patient, I shall write to him to clarify the position.

§ Lord Roberts of Conwy
My Lords, does the Minister think that the Government's plans to build vast windmills at sea will improve the marine 852 environment? If not, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that the marine environment is not polluted?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, the decision of the Government to invest substantially in wind power marks a major step towards further protecting the environment as a whole from, in particular, climate change and carbon emissions damage. Therefore that investment will be of very substantial benefit to the environment. However, when identifying particular sites on which to locate wind farms, obviously it is important that we minimise any effect on the marine environment.