§ Mr. HanleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he will put forward at next week's governing council meeting of the United Nation's Environment Programme.
§ Mr. RidleyMy noble Friend the Minister for Housing, Environment and Countryside, will represent the United Kingdom at the governing council and will set out the Government's views on the major global environmental issues on United Nations Environment Programme's agenda, including global warming.
To ensure that these issues are given the priority they deserve we want to strengthen the United Nations Environment Programme both in regard to existing functions and in preparing for the major United Nations conference on the environment in 1992.
In order to help to provide the United Nations Environment Programme with the resources it needs to carry out the task we require of it, the United Kingdom 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. 432W 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 set up by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Office.