TNAG-2693-FCO40-3896-Meetings-and-calls-on-Alastair-Goodlad--Minister-of-State-fo-1993 — Page 67

IN CONFIDENCE

relatively low take-up rate for such programmes by good scientists in the UK was the lack of information about scientific

activities in Japan. The Japanese Science Information Service

was one of the few sources of such information. It would

therefore be sad if this service was lost for lack of funding.

Nonetheless, the level of exchanges was building up. She was

pleased that some intrepid British scientists were prepared to

have a go at learning Japanese in order to take up post-doctoral

posts there. The Japanese were particularly keen to build up their expertise in biotechnology.

UNCED FOLLOW-UP

18. Mrs Leslie said that this was a time to consolidate the

results of UNCED and to implement its provisions. We did not

expect much to come out of the first organisational session of

the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), but in future years

this organisation would review the activities of other UN bodies,

and would look at national reports on sustainable development

implementation by Member States of the UN. Donor states such as

the UK would include in their reports what international assistance they were giving to promote sustainable development in

the Third World, as well as what they were doing domestically. The UK's national Sustainable Development Report would be a hefty document, in the preparation of which the DOE would be required

to ask other departments to examine the contribution made by their activities to sustainable development goals. The need to prepare this report was likely to engender a subtle shift in the

balance of power within Whitehall towards the DOE.

19. The UK, with other G7 countries, was committed to

ratification of the Climate Change Convention by the end of 1993.

The Biodiversity Convention was more problematic the UK was

IN CONFIDENCE