§ Mr. HoramTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the activities of the Green Minister in the Department in financial year 2003–04. [185129]
§ Mr. RammellAs the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Green Minister, during the financial year 2003–04 I participated fully in the cabinet committee of Green Ministers (ENV(G)) and in the Sustainable Development Task Force which first met in May 2003.
I have encouraged implementation in the FCO of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate, including agreeing waste, procurement, and renewable energy and energy 541W efficiency targets. In August 2003 I inaugurated our contract with 'Greenworks', responsible for re-using and re-cycling the FCO's surplus furniture. The media were invited to attend the event to publicise the inauguration and the wider sustainability agenda. I agreed the FCO contribution to the Government response to the Environmental Audit Committee report 'Greening Government 2003', providing information on our progress towards integrating sustainable development into our policy-making, and the performance of our UK estate.
I also agreed the FCO contribution to the Government response to the House of Commons Audit Committee (EAC) October 2003 report 'World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002—from Rhetoric to Reality' on our progress towards meeting the commitments made at WSSD.
I am actively involved in the review of the 1999 UK Sustainable Development Strategy 'A better quality of life' and took part in the launch of the consultation on the new strategy earlier this year. The FCO is working with Defra, DFID and DTI to ensure that international issues are integrated into the new UK Sustainable Development Strategy.
I have also been working closely on the drafting of the FCO Sustainable Development Strategy, which we aim to launch later this year.