§ Andrew MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monies were pledged by the G8, broken down by country, as part of the Global Partners Agreement, known as ten plus ten plus ten; how much has been spent or advanced by each country; what impediments there are to the expenditure and disposition of the global amount; and if he will make a statement. [90690]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienMoney pledged so far to the G8 `Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction' is as follows (in currency of pledge).
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- Canada: Cdn $1 billion
- France: €750 million
- Germany: €1.5 billion
- Italy: $1 billion
- Japan: $200 million
- Russia: $2 billion
- US: $10 billion
- UK: up to $750 million
Some countries have begun disbursing money to the Russian Federation and related projects, in particular the US under the Co-operative Threat Reduction initiative. The UK does not have details of expenditure to date by other G8 countries. Many countries are not able to disburse a substantial portion of the funds until there is agreement on a legal framework known as the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Programme for the Russian Federation (MNEPR).
The UK has only been able to disburse around £20 million to date, and the continuing absence of either a multilateral or a bilateral agreement constitutes a substantial impediment to expenditure in a number of areas. Once we have the agreements in place we will be able to spend project money very quickly. In the interim, the UK continues to provide assistance to former Soviet Union countries in a number of areas, including safe storage of nuclear submarine fuel and site characterisation work in NW Russia, nuclear safety assistance to Kazakhstan, and measures to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons expertise from closed nuclear cities in Russia. In addition, the UK is working with other members of the G8 to establish a multilateral instrument to oversee the disposition of Russian weapons-grade plutonium.
The Government are firmly committed to the Global Partnership and believes the need for co-ordinated non-proliferation work has never been greater.
§ Andrew MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the details and purpose of the Global Partners Agreement known as ten plus ten plus ten reached between the G8 and the Russia Federation in Canada in 2002. [90691]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienOn June 27 2002, leaders at the G8 Summit at Kananaskis, Canada, announced the 'Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction'. The details and purpose of the Partnership were set out as follows
The attacks of September 11 demonstrated that terrorists are prepared to use any means to cause terror and inflict appalling casualties on innocent people. We commit ourselves to prevent terrorists, or those that harbour them, from acquiring or developing nuclear, chemical, radiological and biological weapons; missiles; and related materials, equipment and technology. We call on all countries to join us in adopting the set of non-proliferation principles we have announced today.In a major initiative to implement those principles, we have also decided today to launch a new G8 Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. Under this initiative, we will support specific co-operation projects, initially in Russia, to address non-proliferation, disarmament, counter-terrorism and nuclear safety issues. Among our priority concerns are the destruction of chemical weapons. the dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines, the disposition of fissile materials and the employment of former 79W weapons scientists. We will commit to raise up to $20 billion to support such projects over the next ten years. We will review progress on this Global Partnership at our next Summit in 2003.