§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria his Department's Overseas Development Administration uses to judge appropriate time horizons when considering the funding of environmental aid projects.
§ Mrs. ChalkerConsistent with the principles of sustainable development, we aim to take a long term view of every environmental impact of projects we finance, and pay special attention to any possible irreversible effects. No generally agreed criteria exist for judging appropriate specific time horizons and qualitative judgments are often needed especially where it is not possible fully to quantify environmental costs and benefits. We have financed work by the Overseas Development Institute, published last month as a book "Values for the Environment: A Guide to Economic Appraisal" by J. T. Winpenny, which will provide guidance on these issues to ODA economists and others. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.