§ 38. Mr. Paul ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the steps taken by his Department to support international work on environmental issues. [69459]
§ Mr. FatchettThey are many and varied: we are working in international fora, including G8 and CHOGM, with colleagues from other Departments to achieve better protection of the international environment and sustainable use of natural resources. Under our Presidency of the EU, we achieved our objective at the European Council in June 1998 of agreement to integrate the environment into all areas of EU policy-making. We co-funded, with DfID, a successful Caribbean marine biodiversity workshop co-chaired with Jamaica in October 1998. We have contributed to the leading role the British Government have been able to take in international environmental negotiations, for example the climate change conference in Buenos Aires in November 1998. We are now building a closer relationship with business and NGO's on the environment, through our FCO/Business Energy Challenge, and our programme to support small environmental projects.