Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Minister Clark demonstrated the Government’s continued support for the excellent work of the UK-Brazil Tech Hub during her visit to Brazil in early September. As part of the UK’s Digital Access Programme, the Hub continues to make a real difference for local Brazilian communities by improving digital inclusion, building local capacity, and supporting local digital entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Government is strengthening ties with international partners and building the UK’s reputation as a strong, reliable partner, while harnessing the power of science and technology for global benefit. Supporting partners to transform their economies in a sustainable and inclusive manner is critical to strengthen the entire science and technology ecosystem and achieve our technology ambitions.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) play a critical role in the protection and restoration of biodiversity. IPLCs are stewards of 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity¹. Evidence suggests that where IPLCs hold secure governance rights to forests, communities provide better protection and management, deforestation rates are lower, and carbon storage higher². Biodiversity indicators show significantly lower declines in land managed by Indigenous Peoples, and these lands are at least as diverse or more so than protected areas³. The UK is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which recognises ’the dependency of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) on biological diversity and their unique role in conserving life on Earth’⁴. The UK supported the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and is fully committed to promoting and protecting human rights for all individuals, including Indigenous People, without discrimination on any grounds. The UK also supports Voluntary Guidelines on Governance of Tenure (VGGT)⁵; these embody international provisions requiring the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from Indigenous Peoples to any project that may affect them.

At COP26 the UK Presidency led a $1.7bn Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Forest Tenure Pledge (the Pledge)⁶ from 23 public and private donors to advance support for Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ (IPLC) tenure rights in tropical forest countries, running from 2021-2025. The Pledge has led to a step-change in international attention on the central role local and Indigenous communities play in climate mitigation, protecting nature and biodiversity, and the critical role of tenure security in sustainable land use. The UK is delivering our Pledge commitment of £163m through ODA programmes across FCDO, DESNZ and DEFRA.

¹ The role of Indigenous Peoples in Biodiversity Conservation: World Bank Document
² By the Numbers: Indigenous and Community Land Rights | World Resources Institute (wri.org)
³ The Economics of Biodiversity Dasgupta Review 2021
⁴ Working Group on Article 8(j) (cbd.int)
⁵ Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure | Governance of Tenure | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao.org)
⁶ https://ukcop26.org/cop26-iplc-forest-tenure-joint-donor-statement/; https://landportal.org/iplc/forest-tenure-donor-pledge

The UK is closely monitoring the potential development of La Niña conditions and in particular the risk of food security impacts in the Horn of Africa and Southern Africa.

The UK is a committed humanitarian donor, channelling over £277 million in Humanitarian Aid to the Africa region in 2023 and is already operating humanitarian programmes in those countries of concern highlighted in the Hunger Hotspots report. Those programmes are standing-by to adapt as required. On 22 August, Minister Dodds, Minister for Development, announced an additional £15 million of vital assistance to Sudan, South Sudan and Chad.

The UK champions UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2417 which enables reporting and early warnings to the UN Security Council when parties to conflict are causing food insecurity and famine risk, including by blocking access to humanitarian support and destroying agriculture and food and water production systems. We use our seat at the Security Council to implement 2417 and urge swift action when such warnings are submitted. We did this when formal warnings were issued earlier this year on Gaza and Sudan. On 13 June, the UK penned UNSCR 2736 on Sudan, with specific calls to warring parties to withdraw fighters to enable agricultural activities throughout the planting season.

In October 2023, the Human Rights Council adopted the UK-led resolution to establish an international and Independent Fact-Finding Mission to investigate evidence of human rights abuses and violations in Sudan. Following publication of its first report in September, the UK co-led renewal on 9 October 2024 of the Fact-Finding Mission's mandate for a further year, with the Resolution passing by a higher vote margin this year. The UK continues to support the work of the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) to gather open-source evidence on the ongoing fighting, with a view to supporting future accountability efforts. We continue to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor's ongoing work to investigate the allegations of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. Our practical support to the ICC more broadly includes witness protection; sentence enforcement; commitment to the ICC's reform process; and work to ensure that the Court has the resources it needs to operate effectively.

The UK uses its position as penholder at the UN Security Council and leader of the Core Group on Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council to keep a spotlight on, and take actions in response to, the human rights situation in Sudan. In October 2023, the Human Right Council adopted the UK-led Resolution to establish an international and independent Fact-Finding Mission to investigate evidence of human rights abuses and violations. Following publication of its first report in September, the UK co-led renewal on 9 October 2024 of the Fact-Finding Mission's mandate for a further year, with the Resolution passing by a higher vote margin this year.

We have repeatedly used our position as penholder at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to call for a ceasefire, and for all warring parties to protect civilians in Sudan. On 13 June, the UNSC adopted UK-led resolution 2736 demanding a halt to the Rapid Support Forces' siege of El Fasher and requested the Secretary-General to provide recommendations on the protection of civilians. The UK is engaging with the UN on the development of those recommendations which will be released in October ahead of the next 120-day meeting on Sudan, just ahead of our Presidency of the UNSC in November. We will continue to work alongside our international partners, including those in the region, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU) to urge the warring parties to engage constructively to secure a ceasefire, protect civilians and open up humanitarian access.

Since 1962, the UK has committed its nuclear deterrent to the defence of our NATO allies. The nuclear deterrent deters the most extreme threats to our national security, keeping the UK and our NATO allies safe.

As was made clear in the NATO Washington Summit declaration, nuclear deterrence is the cornerstone of Alliance security. NATO and NATO Allies will continue to take actions to enhance our deterrence and defence against all threats and challenges and across all domains. As the Prime Minister has set out, this Government has an unshakeable commitment to NATO and our nuclear deterrent.