Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when it is planned that ratification of the 2004 second amendment to the Espoo Convention on Transboundary Impact will take place in relation to Northern Ireland.

Ratification of international agreements is not a devolved policy area and is made at UK level by the UK Government. The second amendment to the Espoo Convention was adopted in 2004 and entered into force on 23 October 2017. The Government takes its international commitments very seriously and will only commit to formal ratification when it is satisfied it is in a position to do so. Officials will assess what needs to be done under domestic legislation, and practical arrangements to ratify the second amendment, in due course.