§ Lord Thomas of Gwydirasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proposals they will put foward at next week's governing council meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Caithness)I will represent the United Kingdom at the governing council and will set out the Government's views on the major global environmental issues on UNEP's agenda, including global warming.
To ensure that these issues are given the priority they deserve we want to strengthen UNEP both in regard to existing functions and in preparing for the major UN conference on the environment in 1992. In order to help to provide UNEP with the resources it needs to carry out the task we require of it, the UK has more than doubled its financial contribution. We will be urging other countries to follow our lead.
We will call for the urgent consideration of a framework convention on the subject of climate change. This would establish general principles or guidelines and allow more specific measures to be developed in the form of protocols as scientific and other information becomes clearer.
We will also reiterate the Government's support for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) set up by UNEP and the World Meteorological Office.