§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the launch of the UK national strategy for global environmental research; which United Kingdom research institutions will benefit from the strategy; what additional resources have been committed in support of the strategy; and what attempts have been made to publicise the existence of and prospective benefits arising from the strategy. [40398]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe report, 'UK National Strategy for Global Environmental Research', by an expert panel of the inter-agency committee on global environmental change, was publicly launched by the committee chairman, Sir Ronald Oxburgh, on 10 September at the 1996 conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In addition to the targeted dissemination to all United Kingdom organisations and institutions involved with global environmental research and extensive international distribution, the document has been made generally available through the Internet.
The report identifies a close match between its priority research issues and the "Forward Look" plans of the funding agencies. This no doubt reflects the influence of the inter-agency committee's previous strategy reports. The Department's research programme "Forward Look" is in line with the report recommendation to maintain current research efforts over the next few years. All institutions engaged in global environmental research will benefit from the strategy as they plan future research against the background of the report's recommendations on the conceptual approach, research directions arid priorities, enabling technologies and infrastructure, and communication and co-ordination.