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Fri 04 Apr 2007Greening our aidThe link between development and environmental degradation is well-established, even in Ireland as Galway's water crisis shows. Internationally, it has been recognised at least since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, more properly called the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).However, it has taken the Department of Foreign Affairs a long time to incorporate environmental concerns into the Irish Aid programme - an obvious lacuna which has only now been put right with the publication yesterday of Environment Policy for Sustainable Development, a new policy document which has the backing of former president Mary Robinson.