§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) for what reasons the United Kingdom has decided to withhold its contribution to the UN Environment Programme's budget; [17222]
(2) if he will make a statement on (a) the matters discussed at and (b) the outcome of the recent annual meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi. [17223]
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§ Mr. GummerThe Government's main objective at the governing council was to secure decisions which would help to restore confidence in the United Nations Environment Programme. We believe that UNEP needs a governing structure which provides the organisation with political guidance and a mandate which gives it a clear direction. Although satisfactory decisions were reached on the budgets for 1996–97 and 1998–99, the programme of work for 1998–99, and on chemicals, oceans, and biosafety, the governing council failed to reach agreement on reform of UNEP's governing structure and on a review of its mandate. Agreement on these issues is essential if UNEP is to re-establish itself as the key environmental institution in the UN system and to reverse the sharp decline in its funding.
Satisfactory proposals on the governing structure and on UNEP's mandate were proposed by the president of the governing council and gathered a wide measure of support from developed and developing countries, but were resisted by some members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives. The governing council was suspended and I took the view that we should suspend our voluntary contribution to the environment fund until these issues are resolved. The United States and Spain took the same view. The Government are now actively seeking ways of resolving this problem with EU partners, other members of the governing council and the UNEP executive director.