APPENDIX 1
Letter from the Chairman of the committee
to Rt Hon John Prescott MP, Deputy Prime Minister
WSSD FOLLOW-UP AND THE URBAN SUMMIT
As you may be aware, my Committee is currently
examining how the Government intends to follow-up its commitments
relating to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
The World Summit on Sustainable Development
DEFRA's memoranda to us for this inquiry included
a helpful table (enclosed) which outlines the key commitments
made at the Summit and the UK Government Departments to which
they relate. We note that your department is leading on a number
of these commitments and we were pleased to see that sessions
at the Urban Summit were dedicated to sustainable development
and sustainable communities. However, we were surprised that you
yourself did not refer to the World Summit in your key note speech
at the Urban Summit despite having returned from Johannesburg
only weeks before. We understand from DEFRA that WSSD outcomes
are now being pursued through existing policy processes and work
streams across Government. In this spirit, your address presented
a high profile and early opportunity to make the link back to
the Summit, if only by a brief acknowledgement. It would be very
helpful to the Committee if you could outline the particular reasons
why you decided not to refer to the WSSD at the Urban Summit.
January 2003
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