Sustainable Development (Hansard, 7 November 2002)

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what(a) assessment has been made and (b) discussions have taken place, or are planned by her Department, of the political declarations emerging from the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg from (i) the Inter-Parliamentary Union, (ii) local government groups and (iii) regional government groups. [77561]

§ Mr. Meacher
The relevant declarations are (i) the declarations by parliamentarians at the session organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU); (ii) the declaration by local government representatives at the session organised by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI); and (iii) the declaration by regional government representatives at the regional government event (known as the Gauteng Declaration).
We are in the process of assessing the contents of these declarations, and will discuss their implications with the relevant stakeholders, including how they might contribute to sustainable development in the UK.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in relation to the role of local government in the delivery of objectives agreed at the 709W recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg; and what the outcomes of the discussions have been. [77563]

§ Mr. Meacher
Discussions have begun with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and other Government Departments about how to take forward the UK's commitments from WSSD at the local, national and international level. There are many aspects to consider and we anticipate these discussions continuing for some time.
We will be launching a major review of the UK Sustainable Development Strategy in the new year. We will use this opportunity to consult stakeholders, including local authorities, on action to implement the Johannesburg commitments across the UK.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason the UK did not have a stand at the Umbuntu Village and the NASREC exhibition space at the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. [77569]

§ Mr. Meacher
After careful consideration, the UK Government decided not to have a stand at Umbuntu Village as we believed that the benefits to be gained from exhibitioning did not justify the use of the limited human and financial resources we had available.
NASREC was the location for the Global People's Forum, which ran in parallel to the main summit, and was a forum for all forms of civil society to coalesce and discuss sustainable development. It was not a forum for Governments to exhibit. I visited it during the WSSD Conference and spent half a day there. I also visited Umbuntu Village twice.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken to develop national coalitions to assist in the delivery of(a) outcomes of the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and (b)additional non-binding agreements or pledges made by the UK Government relating to the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. [77578]

§ Mr. Meacher
The United Kingdom Government are co-operating with like-minded Governments, both bilaterally and through international institutions such as the United Nations, European Union and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to assist the delivery of the outcomes of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development and related non-binding commitments which it has made.
Such co-operation will not necessarily involve the development of publicly identified 'coalitions'. However, at Johannesburg the EU member states and a number of like-minded countries, commonly referred to as the 'Renewable Energy Coalition', made a declaration on "The Way Forward for Renewable Energy". This commits us to work together to further develop and promote renewable energy technologies and substantially increase the global share of renewable 710W energy resources; and to work with others to achieve this goal, especially through partnership initiatives and through forthcoming international conferences.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to(a) attend and (b) support events relating to outcomes of the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. [77595]

§ Mr. Meacher
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is committed to follow-up the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) both at a national and international level. Within the UK, Defra is supporting numerous events on the outcomes of WSSD, these include stakeholder meetings to discuss follow-up action in the UK, a Conservation Foundation workshops on WSSD looking at the local dimension, the Royal Institute of International Affairs General Meeting on the outcomes of WSSD, a DEMOS seminar on sustainable business and a keynote speech by my right hon. Friend the Secondary of State for Defra on the outcomes of WSSD at the Associate Parliamentary Environment Group Christmas reception.
The Department is also committed to attending numerous international meetings, particularly at EU and UN level, relating to the outcomes of WSSD.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which individuals and organisations who were consulted by her Department in relation to(a) Prepcom meetings and discussions relating to the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg; and (b) the negotiations and involvement of the UK Government delegation at the World Summit. [77573]

§ Mr. Meacher
The Department for Environment, Food and rural Affairs (Defra) worked closely with various stakeholder groups in our preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Consultations with civil society were through umbrella organisations such as UNED-UK and the BOND Network (British Overseas NGOs for Development).
Defra engaged with the business community and the Prime Minister instigated five sectoral initiatives in March 2001, which were partnerships for the delivery of sustainable development between Government, civil society. Stakeholders groups, including NGOs, local authorities and business were invited to be part of the delegation at the Prepcoms and at the summit itself.
Negotiations at the summit were inter-governmental. However, daily UK delegation meetings and regular briefing sessions with civil society enabled nongovernmental stakeholders to feed in their views.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to(a) develop a system for monitoring of and (b) produce guidelines for Type II agreements relating to the delivery of objectives relating to the delivery of (i) sustainable development and (ii) outcomes of the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. [77576]
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§ Mr. Meacher
Defra negotiators were instrumental in the development and adoption by the UN of a set of guiding principles for Type II partnerships at the fourth Preparatory Committee meeting for WSSD in Indonesia in May this year. We also fought extremely hard for the inclusion of relevant text in the Plan of Implementation agreed at Johannesburg, with the result that the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) has been mandated to develop a follow-up mechanism for partnerships.
Domestically, a policy lead has been identified for each of those Type II partnerships in which the UK Government are involved. These include officials from FCO, Forestry Commission, DfID and DTI in addition to Defra.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list Type II agreements in place relating to the delivery of(a) sustainable development and (b) outcomes of the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. [77577]

§ Mr. Meacher
I refer the hon. Member to the UN website for the World Summit on Sustainable Development which lists more than 600 Type II partnerships (http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/sustainable_dev/partnership_initiatives.html).
The UK Government instigated or was involved in more than 20 partnerships developed for WSSD. Those that were registered as formal Type II partnerships are:

UK-led Water Partnershi—partners For Water and Sanitation (PAWS)

UK-led Sustainable Tourism Initiative (STI)

EU Water Initiative—Water for Life

EU Energy Initiative—'Energy for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development'

Global Village energy Partnership (GVEP)

Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development

Partnership For Principle 10 (Environmental Democracy)

Oceans Initiative: "White Water to Blue Water: A Crosscutting Approach to Regional Oceans and Coastal Ecosystem Management"

Congo Basin Forest Partnership

Japanese led Asian Forest Partnership

Details of these, and the other partnerships in which we are involved, are available on the Government sustainable development website (http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/wssd/).