§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the assistance given to assist other countries to fulfil their obligations arising from agreements made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
§ Mr. Lennox BoydThe biodiversity and climate change conventions were each signed by over 150 countries at Rio. We have contributed over £40 million to the global environment facility, the interim funding mechanism for the conventions. Our contribution was separate from and additional to our aid programme for developing countries. We want to see the GEF established as the permanent funding mechanism for both conventions.