Dr. ThomasTo ask the Prime Minister if she will set out the details of the policy options for global co-operation on environmental protection and environmental improvement she presented to the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting on 6 September in London.
§ The Prime MinisterMy speech to the Inter-Parliamentary Union last month set out the principles which I believe should govern our efforts to improve the environment. There are four: first, that proper protection for the environment is not possible without adequate growth; secondly, that we need a sound scientific base to enable us to adopt policies and remedies which will be effective; thirdly, that the demand for a better environment means accepting the costs involved and that action must work with the grain of the market and of human nature; and fourthly, that many of the key environmental problems cannot be addressed by one nation alone—they need international co-operation. The Government have followed these principles in the detailed actions it has taken to improve the environment domestically and to take the lead in international co-operation, notably in the London ozone layer conference earlier this year and in the proposal we have made in the United Nations for an international framework convention on global climate change.