§ Mr. McCrindleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to press for the strengthening of the Montreal protocol on the reduction of chlorofluorocarbons in the environment; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Government has decided that worldwide emission of chlorofluorocarbons must be reduced by at least 85 per cent. and we are pressing the European Community as a whole to adopt this policy with a view to greatly strengthening the Montreal protocol. This was announced on 3 October by my noble Friend the Minister for Housing, Environment and Countryside on publication of the second report of the Department's stratospheric ozone review group, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. Our first priority remains the protocol's entry into force, as planned, on 1 January 1989. This will in turn trigger implementation in the Community by means of a regulation formally adopted on 22 September.