G20 and COP 29 Summits

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Excerpts

Monday 25th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right that China is still defined as a developing country, but I think we found a greater willingness to engage, and I hope we can make progress from that. That dialogue, and the fact that China is playing such a role and wants to play a greater part, is something that we should be optimistic about and try to build on, rather than reject.

[Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend Lord True asked a couple of questions. I know that time was short, so I am sure that the noble Baroness will be grateful to be asked the questions once more. What was the cost of sending those 450-odd government attendees to Baku? What did they actually do? Furthermore, can she explain to the elderly people across this country deprived of their winter fuel allowance what amount of their future taxes will be Britain’s contribution towards the $300 billion by 2035?

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

The noble Lord’s last question is a calculation that I doubt he or I have made yet. On the conference attendees, the Prime Minister went to show leadership on this, which was important, but there were fewer attendees in the UK delegation than there were last year under the previous Government. I do not have the costs; no doubt, they will be available in due course, and the Secretary of State will make a broader statement.

I think that eight Ministers attended along with officials, the devolved Governments and businesses. It was a wide-ranging group because we want to have that wide range of discussions. To anybody who questions the value of attending in person I say that a conference that runs over by 30 or 35 hours because of the difficulty in reaching agreement is proof that it is not something you can do over a video link, Zoom or Teams. You have to be there in the room and in person to try to make a difference.