§ Mr. McKelveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what new United Kingdom contributions to international scientific programmes he proposes to establish as a result of the "Agenda 21" chapter on science for sustainable development agreed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
§ Mr. MacleanThis chapter has four programme areas—strengthening the scientific basis for sustainable development, enhancing scientific understanding, improving long-term scientific assessment, and building up scientific capacity and capability. The United Kingdom is already extremely active in these areas working with developing countries both directly and through governmental and non-governmental international bodies. We are, for example, playing leading roles in a range of international programmes on climate change and its consequences. Some of the additional funds committed by the United Kingdom by replenishing the global environmental facility will no doubt be deployed on projects covered by chapter 35. More specifically. the United Kingdom initiatives on satelite monitoring, on technology, transfer, and on biodiversity—the Darwin initiative—will add significantly to our inputs to promoting science for sustainable development. I understand that new Natural Environment Research Council initiatives in training and research in taxonomy and in biodiversity, are designed to strengthen the United Kingdom science base thus underpinning existing and new applied work with developing countries.