Liam Byrne
Main Page: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)Department Debates - View all Liam Byrne's debates with the Cabinet Office
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Liam Byrne (Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North) (Lab)
I congratulate the Prime Minister on the restoration of UK leadership. Lord Prescott, who did so much to lead on Kyoto, would be truly proud of my right hon. Friend’s work and that of his Cabinet. I was very proud to lead the UK Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation to Baku this weekend, where we heard loud and clear a report from finance experts who say that we need $1 trillion a year in climate finance between now and 2030. The UK has led from the front, but the reality is that we cannot hit that target without building a bigger World Bank. We could lead that charge by recycling some of the £3 billion we get back from the European Investment Bank. Is that an initiative the Prime Minister could look into?
The Prime Minister
I thank my right hon. Friend for his question. On UK leadership, we are back leading on the stage. The sentiment among other leaders is that they are glad to see the UK back, leading on these issues. Their words to me are that they feel there has been an absence under the previous Government. On finance, this is really important. There are a number of ways we should and can leverage private money to meet very important challenges, whether the global climate challenge or other challenges. We took steps at COP to set out how those mechanisms could be improved.