Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of UK aid funding for mine action.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is one of the leading supporters of mine action across the world. Our current Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP2, running from 2018-2022) has helped to raise standards across the global demining sector through its effective and innovative approach. Under GMAP2, the UK has cleared and confirmed safe 435.2 million square metres of land, the equivalent of over 60,952 football pitches, and has delivered risk education messages to over 3.7 million people in communities affected by mines. GMAP2 has as a consequence contributed to broader HMG development goals such as stabilisation, education, jobs and food security in poor and fragile countries across the world.
The FCDO is currently working on the design of a new Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP3), which will replace GMAP2 during 2022. We are committed to continually improving the effectiveness of our aid funding for mine action, and are drawing on lessons learned from GMAP2.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support Angola to become landmine free under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is a leading donor in supporting Angola's commitment to be landmine free by 2025. The UK's current Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP2, 2018-22) has, as of September 2021, cleared and confirmed safe over 27 million square metres of land in Angola (the equivalent of 3,784 football pitches) and provided 95,004 people with risk education.
The Global Mine Action Programme 3 (GMAP3) is due to replace GMAP2 during 2022. It will involve landmine clearance and risk education to help keep affected communities safe, and build capacity development for national authorities to help them manage landmine contamination. We are in the process of finalising individual country allocations, and will make a statement as soon as this is complete.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure developing countries affected by loss and damage due to climate change are not pushed further into debt.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to identifying new and additional sources of finance for loss and damage due to climate change in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess the level of need for loss and damage due to climate change in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to establish a process to discuss finance for loss and damage due to climate change in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) international organisations, and (2) NGOs, they are working with as part of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are working across government and with partners such as UNHCR to design the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), amidst a complex and changing picture. We are committed to working in step with the international community to get this right, and we will set out more details soon.
The first to be resettled through the ACRS will be some of those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk.
The ACRS will be focused on people affected by events in Afghanistan, who are located in Afghanistan or in the region.
Eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK as set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme places have been allocated to those who have already evacuated to EU member states.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are working across government and with partners such as UNHCR to design the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), amidst a complex and changing picture. We are committed to working in step with the international community to get this right, and we will set out more details soon.
The first to be resettled through the ACRS will be some of those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk.
The ACRS will be focused on people affected by events in Afghanistan, who are located in Afghanistan or in the region.
Eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK as set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme; and when the scheme will open.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are working across government and with partners such as UNHCR to design the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), amidst a complex and changing picture. We are committed to working in step with the international community to get this right, and we will set out more details soon.
The first to be resettled through the ACRS will be some of those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk.
The ACRS will be focused on people affected by events in Afghanistan, who are located in Afghanistan or in the region.
Eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK as set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they owe to Iran; when they expect to pay it; and why they have not yet paid it.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The IMS debt is a longstanding issue and we have been consistently clear that we continue to explore options to resolve this 40-year old case.