§ Mr. ElletsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the partnership for change conference to be held in Manchester later this year.
§ Mr. HowardWe intend to hold an international conference, "Partnership for Change", in Manchester in September on the implementation of the earth summit agreements. I have invited a small number of eminent people to join an international advisory group to advise me on the preparations for the conference, and in particular on themes, outputs and participants. The group is chaired by Dr. Martin Holdgate, director general of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The members are: Mr. Delmar Blasco, Mr. Claude Fussier, Dr. Hiroya Ichikawa, Mrs. Yolanda Kakabadse, Dr. Ashok Khosla, Ms. Rachel Kyte, Mr. Warren Lindner, Mr. Michael Ndubiwa, Professor Michael Scoullos, Mr. Youba Sokona and Mr. Jan-Olaf Willums.
The group held its first meeting on 8 and 9 February and I am considering its detailed recommendations. A report of the group's discussions is available from my Department.
Manchester city council also intends to host a complementary international event, Global Forum, for all sectors concerned with sustainable development and the environment. Manchester city council and I have agreed that "Partnership for Change" should go ahead in September and that Global Forum should follow in the first half of next year, thus maximising the opportunities for an exchange of experience of the implementation of sustainable development.
Partnership for change will be a working conference of invited participants primarily from the local government, business and voluntary sectors on 20–22 September. Global Forum will be an open-access event encompassing many different activities over several days. My Department and Manchester city council will be working together closely in planning the two events.