§ Ms ShipleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals she has to promote sustainable development. [40354]
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§ Mr. MeacherThe Department has lead responsibility for the Government's Sustainable Development Strategy. We will shortly be publishing the second annual report on progress towards sustainable development by the country as a whole. In DEFRA itself, we intend to put in place a Departmental sustainable development strategy—by Spring 2002; the new Department's aim and objectives have sustainable development at their heart.
Later this year Johannesburg will host the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), marking the tenth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was the first head of government to confirm that he would attend. DEFRA has a central role to play in the UK preparations for the Summit, both as the champion of sustainable development policy in the UK Government, and as the lead Department on relevant negotiations in environmental fora, including policy lead for WSSD. We hope the publicity it generates will stimulate further interest not just in the international aspects of sustainable development, but the action we need to take at home.
We are committed to taking forward sustainable development—as we have already demonstrated, for instance, at the climate change talks in Marrakech and the WTO talks in Doha; and by calling a Waste Summit, publishing a Fuel Poverty Strategy and setting up the Policy Commission on Food and Farming. We shall continue to work actively with other countries, business, local authorities and NGO's to promote sustainable development.