§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions have been taken since the appointment of a Minister to consider the environmental implications of the Overseas Development Administration's policies; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mrs. ChalkerA wide variety of work is under way to implement the commitments set out in the White Paper, "This Common Inheritance" published in September 1990. The FCO departmental report published earlier this month described some of this activity.
For example, in November 1990, the Government announced a new public expenditure sub-programme, separate from the budget for aid for developing countries, on global environmental assistance. From this we have pledged £40.3 million to the core fund of the global environment facility to be established under the leadership of the World bank, UNDP and UNEP. We have approved a number of new forestry projects. The strategic studies on ODA's role in the conservation of biological diversity referred to in the White Paper are now complete and will be discussed in a workshop in ODA on 8 March. We are discussing finance for studies on the impacts of climate change with the Government's of Kenya and Ghana. We have held a number of training seminars on environmental issues for ODA staff, and more are planned. We are working on a revision of ODA's manual on environmental appraisal, first published in 1988. We continue to work closely with other development agencies, including the multilateral agencies, as well as with our partners in developing countries, to improve the environmental sustainability of all aid-financed activities.
These examples are illustrative of our activities. I will describe our actions following up the White Paper in more detail when I address the Royal Geographical Society on 30 April, and copies of my speech will be placed in the Libraries of the House.