To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what World Environment Day 2009 events his Department supported; at which events his Department was represented; and what steps his Department took to promote World Environment Day 2009. (278801)

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was represented by Peter Unwin, Director General of DEFRA's Environment and Rural Group, at the opening of the new Three Mills Lock on World Environment Day. Three Mills Lock is a key piece of Olympic Park infrastructure and the largest mechanism of its kind built on London waterways for more than 20 years. It will help take lorries off local roads, reduce thousands of tonnes of CO₂ and ease local congestion. It will also provide a green freight route for the redevelopment of East London, and open up the waterways for boaters, walkers and cyclists. Secretary of State supplied some quotes for a British Waterways media release.

Lord Hunt attended the Basic 21 Sustainable School Awards, which took place at Austin Court, Birmingham and was part of a number of events to launch “Green Day” on World Environment Day. Green Day is a one-day event for schools about climate change, sustainability and the built environment, inviting 350 primary and secondary schools and nearly 100,000 pupils to become more sustainable in the run up to the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen later this year.