§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking, in the light of the communiqué signed by Ministers at the OECD council meeting of 31st May and 1st June this year, to implement paragraph 31 (in which they "reaffirmed the critical importance of integrating more systematically and effectively environment and economic decision making"), and whether the Treasury is yet equipped to "integrate environmental considerations into an economic growth model …", as listed in paragraph 31.
§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Lord Young of Graffham)The Government are taking a leading role in discussions with their international partners on how sustainable growth may be achieved, with proper recognition of the environment. The measures in my right honourable friend's Budget to improve the relative price advantage of lead-free petrol, and more widely the application of the polluter pays principle to the control of harmful emissions, are practical examples of methods of influencing behaviour in ways less damaging to the environment. The United Kingdom is playing a full part in research work by the OECD Secretariat, the UN Environment Programme and others to develop analytical techniques which will enable environmental considerations to be integrated more systematically ino economic decision-making and modelling.
It is not possible to quantify environmental consequences of economic activity with sufficient confidence to incorporate these into the Treasury's economic model.