Durban Climate Change Conference

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park) (Con)]

I, too, congratulate the Secretary of State on the progress that has been made, particularly given that I do not think anyone really believed that there would be progress. I also welcome the declaration relating to the Congo basin—the second largest tract of rain forest in the world—which was launched by the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker). The Secretary of State mentioned progress on reducing emissions from deforestation, and I was hoping that he could be a little more specific.

[Chris Huhne]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his interest in that area and the work he has done. The Congo basin initiative is absolutely crucial. We aim to work with some interesting projects through bilateral support from the UK Government for some key forest nations, which will be in the Amazon, the Congo basin and Indonesia. Further progress was made through the technical achievements in the working groups, which he will find set out in the full agreement.