§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money the United Kingdom Government will be spending over the next five years on assistance to countries overseas for the implementation of the convention on biological diversity; and what it will be spent on.
§ Mr. Baldry[holding answer 16 December 1994]: We are providing help through both bilateral and multilateral aid channels. Between 1991–92 and 1993–94, ODA spent £34.7 million in bilateral aid on projects wholly or partly concerned with biodiversity conservation. In addition, the Department of the Environment has committed £9 million to the Darwin initiative over the next three years. This supports collaborative projects with developing countries in biodiversity conservation. On the multilateral side, we have committed a total of £130 million to the global environment facility, which, inter alia, is the financial mechanism of the convention and is designed to help developing countries and economies in transition to implement their undertakings under the convention.