§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Prime Minister what environmental issues were considered when planning and implementing the EU Cardiff Summit, in respect of(a) energy use, (b) transport arrangements and (c) use of recyclable materials for catering; and what actions were taken. [47882]
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§ The Prime MinisterWe tried wherever possible to take environmental issues into account when planning and implementing the European Council Meeting in Cardiff. Large multilateral meetings inevitably involve high energy consumption, because of the number of people involved (around 4,000 in this case), the equipment they use and the technical facilities involved. These included a media centre for the use of up to 2,500 people, interpretation facilities, extra lighting in the meeting rooms and in press briefing rooms for the use of the television crews. By using a self contained island site for the meeting and associated activities, we were able to keep use of cars to the minimum consistent with the normal courtesy to visiting Head of Governments and their security. The catering contractor used routinely has all paper, glass, steel and other metals collected for recycling.