Conflict and Climate Change in Fragile States: Support for Children
Debate between Lord Purvis of Tweed and Lord Harlech
Lord Harlech (Con)
My noble friend makes an incredibly important point. It is often those most vulnerable in societies who are also at most risk of vulnerability to conflict and climate change. Some 3.3 billion to 3.6 billion people live in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change. In fragile and conflict-afflicted states, these people are more vulnerable to, and less able to cope with, the intersection of climate and conflict, which contributes to worsening food security.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, we know that children are bearing the brunt of the many crises around the world. The Development Minister wrote to the International Development Committee at the end of July with a copy of the equalities impact assessment that advised Ministers on the decisions they have made on overseas development assistance cuts. That included a 54% cut to girls’ education and a 48% cut to human development. The Minister just said that this Government were leading on Education Cannot Wait for girls, but the equalities impact assessment highlighted that its funding has been cut by 87% by this Government. It says that
“approximately 230,000 children (115,000 girls) will not benefit in 2023/24”.
That is the Development Minister’s own statement, so how on earth can a Minister come to this Chamber and say that we are leading on this when we have cut it by 87%?
Lord Harlech (Con)
My Lords, the UK is a champion for international development and one of the most generous global aid donors, spending more than £11 billion in aid in 2021. We remain committed to spending 0.7% of gross national income on official development assistance. Ministers continuously review the ODA budget to ensure that it is spent in the most effective way possible to support the Government’s objectives. That includes ensuring that we are working to deliver on our climate finance commitments.