Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Climate Change Act 2008 on efforts to decarbonise the UK economy.
Answered by Lord Henley
Since our world leading Climate Change Act became law in 2008, we have cut emissions by 29%, while growing the economy by 12%.
Under the Act, we have legislated for five carbon budgets which are amongst the most stringent targets in the world. We have met the first carbon budget, and are on track to meet the second and third. The Clean Growth Strategy, published in 2017, will help us meet our stretching future targets and build on the UK’s success in cutting emissions while creating wealth.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the performance of the Green Investment Group Ltd since its sale in 2017.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Green Investment Group (GIG) have recently reported on their progress in the year since the completion of their sale in August 2017. Over that year they have made or arranged £1.6bn of investments across of range of sectors including offshore and onshore wind, solar, and waste to energy.
In addition, they have launched new green infrastructure advisory services out of their London and Edinburgh offices to support the growth of the global green economy, and have expanded their operations to encompass Asia and North America.
They have also continued to engage proactively within the green investment community, such as publishing a comprehensive progress report in October 2018, holding or supporting a number of sectoral stakeholder events, and being a member of the Green Finance Institute’s Advisory Board.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what outcome they are seeking to achieve from the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention and Climate Change; and how they intend to take a leadership role in efforts to combat climate change internationally after Brexit.
Answered by Lord Henley
At the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UK is committed to bringing the Paris Agreement to life by agreeing a robust set of rules that will support its implementation, and to encourage ambitious action globally. As part of this, we will be supporting a Talanoa Dialogue that results in a firm commitment that all countries will review and update their Nationally Determined Contributions in light of discussions and latest science.
The UK’s deep commitment to tackling climate change will be unchanged by EU Exit. The UK will continue to be a leader on both domestic and international climate action, backed up by our strong domestic legislation and international climate finance commitments. Working with our European partners will remain very important and the UK will continue to engage strongly and proactively with multilateral groupings such as the G7, G20 and the Commonwealth. We have strong relationships with a broad range of Parties in the UNFCCC, including through progressive alliances such as the High Ambition Coalition and the Cartagena Dialogue. Furthermore, we continue to support others to implement the Paris Agreement. The UK will provide at least £5.8bn in climate finance from 2016-2020, providing support for adaptation, mitigation, technical assistance and capacity building.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries received funds from the International Climate Fund in 2017.
Answered by Lord Bates
UK International Climate Finance (ICF) helps countries build resilience to the effects of climate change, reduces global greenhouse gas emissions, and supports sustainable management of natural resources, such as forests.
The latest year for which data on UK ICF spend has been published is 2016/17. In that financial year the following countries and UK overseas territories directly received UK ICF:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Caribbean, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, St Helena, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
In 2016-17 UK ICF also financed regional and multi-country programmes and contributed to three multilateral climate funds, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the UK’s total contribution to the Global Fund in 2017; and how the outcome of this contribution will be assessed.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK pledged £1.1 billion to the Global Fund over 2017-19. Of this, £200 million was to double private sector contributions for tackling malaria, and £90 million was linked to successful delivery against a demanding performance agreement. In 2017, the UK contributed £317.06 million to the Global Fund. The outcome of this contribution is assessed annually, including in terms of the number of lives saved and reduction in new HIV infections and TB and malaria cases worldwide as a result of investments by the Global Fund.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many trade missions were undertaken by ministers in 2017; and what was the destination of each mission.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The Department for International Trade undertook 139 trade missions outside of the United Kingdom in 2017, in 43 countries as follows:
Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Of these missions, eight were supported by the Department’s Ministers, in eight countries as follows:
Ethiopia, Uganda (Secretary of State for International Trade, Rt Hon Liam Fox)
China (Minister of State for Trade & Export Promotion, Baroness Fairhead)
Spain, United States (Minister of State for Trade Policy, Rt. Hon Greg Hands)
France, Germany, India (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Investment, Mark Garnier)
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries were subject to trade sanctions in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, and (3) 2017.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK implements a wide variety of UN, EU and OSCE sanctions regimes, of which many contain arms embargoes and other trade restrictions.
In 2015, the countries subject to such trade restrictions were: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, China, Central African Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, the Cote d’Ivoire, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine (Crimea), Yemen, Zimbabwe. Trade restrictions were also in place against certain terrorist organisations.
In 2016, UN sanctions regimes relating to the Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia were lifted including all trade restrictions. In 2017, the EU introduced a sanctions regime including trade restrictions against Venezuela. The other sanctions regimes outlined above remained in place.
Further information is on the Department for International Trade pages on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the outcome of the sale of the Green Investment Bank; and what arrangements are in place to ensure that the Bank’s Articles of Association are adhered to.
Answered by Lord Henley
A description of how the Government has met its objectives was issued in its “Report to Parliament on the disposal of the Crown’s shares in the UK Green Investment Bank” which can be found attached.
This also described the Special Share arrangements put in place to protect the bank’s green objectives.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress he has made on UK participation in the Mumbai/Bangalore Economic Corridor; and if he will place in the Library the feasibility report for that project and other related studies.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Her Majesty’s Government continues to engage with India on the Bangalore/Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC). BMEC was most recently discussed on 11 February 2015 in a meeting between Chief Executive of UKTI, Dominic Jermey, and Indian Commerce Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
The feasibility report has not yet been completed by Egis, a French company commissioned by Government of India. The report will be the property of the Government of India and it will be their decision as to how it circulated when complete.
Asked by: Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions he or his officials have had with their counterparts in UK Trade & Investment, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the Bangalore/Mumbai Economic Corridor; what recent progress has been made on UK participation in that project; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Amber Rudd
DECC Ministers and officials meet regularly with Ministers and officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UKTI to discuss a range of issues. Her Majesty’s Government continues to engage with India on the Bangalore/Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC). BMEC was most recently discussed on 11 February in a meeting between Chief Executive of UKTI, Dominic Jermey, and Indian Commerce Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. We are looking forward to seeing the outcome of the BMEC perspective plan.