§ Lord Juddasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they plan to ratify the Biodiversity Convention; what action they have taken to abide by its principles on forest management; and how they have progressed on the implementation of Agenda 21 as agreed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
§ Lord StrathclydeWe hope to ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity by the end of 1993, provided we can continue to make progress in securing satisfactory arrangements on a number of important matters, including finance. The convention includes no explicit references to forest management, but separately at Rio Governments agreed to an authoritative statement of forest principles. We subsequently committed ourselves to producing a forestry plan by the end of this year and are well on the way to meeting our timetable. When the new United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development met for the first time last month we reported to them on the progress we had made in following up Agenda 21. Copies of this report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. We are now engaged in preparing a report on our strategy for sustainable development. To this end, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment published a consultation paper on 21st July. We are looking for the widest possible response, and we are aiming to publish our document by the end of the year.