Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what involvement with the United Nations global resource information database and the global environmental monitoring system his Department has had over the past year.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryGovernment policy is to support the work of UNEP. Departmental statisticians have been closely involved in the production of the second edition of UNEP's environmental data report (EDR) which became available last week. The EDR is the main vehicle for presenting the data from GEMS and GRID to a wider audience. The Department also supports UNEP's global monitoring efforts through GEMS. Data are supplied to GEMS annually from the United Kingdom national air pollution monitoring network and from the harmonised monitoring network on water quality. The co-ordinator for the water monitoring programme in GEMS is in DOE.