THEMATIC STRATEGY ON THE SUSTAINABLE USE
OF NATURAL RESOURCES (5032/06)
Letter from Ian Pearson MP, Minister of
State for Climate Change & Environment, Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs to the Chairman
Following my appearance before Sub-Committee
D of the House of Lords European Union Committee on 12 July 2006,
I am writing to update you on the progress of the EU Thematic
Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources.
Defra sought public views on the recommendations
of the Strategy in a consultation document published on 1 August
2006. The consultation closed on 23 October 2006. A total of 16
responses were received, a summary of which can be found at Annex
A. You will be pleased to hear that Ministers have since adopted
the dossier at EU Environment Council on 30 October 2006.
When I appeared before the Committee, several
members were concerned that although the Thematic Strategy made
some helpful proposals to improve the evidence base and co-ordinate
EU information about natural resources, it lacked substantive,
action-orientated proposals. I explained that we expected that
the European Commission's forthcoming EU Sustainable Consumption
and Production Action Plan would use the Thematic Strategy as
its "intellectual roadmap" and set out substantive proposals
based on the findings from that. You will be pleased to hear that
I have recently written to Commissioner Dimas to outline the UK's
expectations in this regard.
12 December 2006
Annex A
SUMMARY OF
RESPONSES TO
THE EU THEMATIC
STRATEGY ON
THE SUSTAINABLE
USE OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
The EU Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable
Use of Natural Resources is one of the seven Thematic Strategies
under the 6th Environmental Action Programme. The Strategy took
the form of a Communication, published on 21 December 2005. The
Strategy builds on the 2003 European Commission Communication
Towards a Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural
Resources. The Government sought public views on the recommendations
of the Strategy in a consultation document published on 1 August
2006.
The main findings from the consultation responses
received by Defra are set out below.
HEADLINE FINDINGS
16 responses to the consultation were received,
from which the main findings were:
— All respondents believed that the
UK should engage actively with the Thematic Strategy and it's
recommendations;
— The majority of respondents supported
the actions set out in the Thematic Strategy;
— The majority of respondents supported
the establishment of concrete targets and timelines for the Thematic
Strategy. The majority of these responses (as well as those
that did not support targets and timelines at this stage) stressed
that a strong knowledge base would be a prerequisite.
MAIN SUMMARY
Q1. Should the UK take no action as a result
of the Thematic Strategy? Why?
All 15 respondents who answered this question,
believed that the UK needed to take action as a result of the
Thematic Strategy. Explanations for this included: the Thematic
Strategy was in line with currently existing UK Government priorities
on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and natural resource
protection; the UK would lose any influencing power if it did
not engage; and that the proposed International Panel and Data
Centre were particularly valuable pieces of work to be involved
in.
Q2. Should the UK support the actions set
out in the Thematic Strategy?
All 16 respondents who answered this question supported
the actions set out in the Thematic Strategy—although four
of these respondents stressed that these actions, while beneficial,
did not go far enough. Particular issues raised included: the
importance of ensuring that the strategy was not a financial or
administrative burden on the UK; a proactive approach was needed
on UK involvement on the high-level forum and international panel
(including from business); the need to develop local and regional
strategies for delivery; desire for further information on longer-term
actions; the need for a UK based "Data Centre"; and
the need for improved indicators.
Q3. Do you support the setting of concrete
targets and timelines for resource use? Why?
Eleven respondents favoured the setting of concrete
targets and timelines for resource use. Of these, five respondents
urged that these be set now, four for them to be set at some stage
during the Thematic Strategy's life-span, as our knowledge base
improved; one proposed 2008 as a realistic deadline, one proposed
2010, and one stressed that any targets needed to be tailored
to local conditions.
Four respondents warned against setting targets
at this stage. This stemmed from a belief that the knowledge base
was currently inadequate. The Data Centre and the International
Panel (once established) were cited as bodies that could set such
indicators.
Q4. What evidence is there to support the
setting of concrete targets and timelines for resource use?
EU environmental policies on climate change
and biodiversity conservation, the Water Framework Directive,
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and European
Environment Agency material on resource flows, the UK's medium
and long term CO2 emission targets, Kyoto targets. water quality
and sustainable waste management targets. and the Emissions Trading
Scheme were variously cited as evidence to support the setting
of concrete targets and timelines for resource use.
PREFERRED OPTION
Although many responses did not specifically
state a preference for a numbered option, by taking the content
of the individual responses into consideration
— Six respondents favoured Option 2—supporting
the actions contained within the Thematic Strategy;
— A further three respondents favoured
Option 2, but moving to Option 3 (setting concrete targets and
timetables) once a proper knowledge base was established (the
setting up of the International Panel and the Data Centre were
singled out as prerequisites
— Seven respondents favoured Option
3, setting up concrete targets and timelines now.
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