HC Deb 25 March 2002 vol 382 c721W
Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department(a) has taken and (b) plans to take to re-affirm the Rio Declaration. [44361]

Mr. Meacher

The Government, in common with the rest of the international community, is working on the basis that the Johannesburg Summit is about implementing Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration rather than renegotiating them. The Johannesburg intergovernmental political declaration should therefore reaffirm and reinforce the Rio Declaration.

Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken by the Government since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to(a) set goals on environmental protection and (b) improve eco-efficiency and resource productivity relating to fresh water issues; and what these (i) goals and (ii) improvements have been. [44364]

Mr. Meacher

In 1999 the Government published its strategy for sustainable development for the UK, "A Better Quality of Life". This strategy is supported by a core set of around 150 indicators of sustainable development. A subset of 15 headline indicators focuses on specific issues and reflects targets against which progress is measured and reported annually. River water quality is one of the headline indicators. Over the last decade, general river quality in the UK has either improved or remained high.

In 1995 the Environment Act amended the Water Industry Act 1991 to place water companies under a statutory duty to promote the efficient use of water by their customers. Ofwat enforces this duty and requires companies to produce five-year water efficiency plans on which progress is reported annually. Following the Water Summit in 1997, Ofwat set annual leakage targets for water companies, which have resulted in a reduction of about 30 per cent. Further details are contained in the Ofwat report 'Leakage and the efficient use of water 2000–01', a copy of which is in the Library of the House. In addition, the Government runs the Envirowise programme, which promotes resource productivity—including water use—by industry. This resulted in over 29 million m3 of water being saved last year.