Earth Summit (Hansard, 5 June 1992)

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the proposals put forward by the United Kingdom on(a) reducing fossil fuel use, (b) nuclear power, (c) minimising and management of hazardous wastes and (d) protecting biodiversity at the United Nations conference on environment and development.

§ Mr. Maclean
The Government have played a full part in the negotiations on the climate change and biodiversity conventions, and supports the agenda 21 chapters on environmentally sound management of radioactive and hazardous wastes.

§ Mrs. Ann Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate the Government have made of the rate of extinction of endangered species if the biodiversity treaty is not signed.

§ Mr. Maclean
We do not yet have the technology or knowledge to estimate precisely the rate of species extinction, but some estimates suggest that there may be as many as 50 million species on earth of which, if present trends continue, up to one third could become extinct by 2025.

§ Mrs. Ann Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those countries which have agreed to sign the treaty on biodiversity at the Earth summit and those which have not.

§ Mr. Maclean
The convention on biological diversity will be open for signature from 5 June. We cannot speculate as to which countries will sign the convention, although we hope that the United Kingdom will be able to sign.

§ Mr. Heppell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the composition of the British delegation to the Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro with particular reference to the numbers representing local government.

§ Mr. Maclean
The United Kingdom delegation will consist of the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for the Environment, the Minister for Overseas Development, myself, and 30 officials from the Department of the Environment, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Overseas Development Agency, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Forestry Commission and from our diplomatic posts in Brazil. There are two local government representatives among the 12 observers who will form part of the United Kingdom delegation. The other observers represent environment and development groups, science, business, youth and trade unions.