§ Mr. ChallenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the impact of the introduction of Agenda 21 in the UK. [8744]
§ Mr. MeacherThis country has been prominent in taking action on sustainable development since Agenda 21 was agreed at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. We produced our new Sustainable Development Strategy 'A better quality of life' in 1999, and the first annual report on the strategy earlier this year. In 1999 and 2000 we published reports setting out progress on Greening Government. Almost all local authorities prepared Local Agenda 21 strategies by the end of 2000, meeting a target set by the Prime Minister in 1997.