Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the value is of CDC Group’s commitment to provide equity financing for the Temane gas project in Mozambique, developed by its subsidiary Globeleq.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
CDC is a majority shareholder of Globeleq. Globeleq's commitments are funded by shareholder support and Globeleq's own resources.
In the past two years, Globeleq has supported the financing of a number of African power projects, including the Cuamba solar and storage project in Mozambique, the Temane gas fired power project in Mozambique and the ARC solar project in Egypt.
Gloebleq has reported its total commitment to Temane as approximately $170 million.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of UK climate finance that will support climate adaptation projects in the next five years.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Between 2016/17 and 2020/21, the UK spent £2.7 billion on international climate finance (ICF) programmes that supported climate adaptation. This was 45% of total UK ICF spend over the period. We are doubling our ICF to £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26 and will aim to maintain a balance between adaptation and mitigation.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department plans to take support transgender and non-binary Ukrainian overcome barriers preventing them from leaving Ukraine safely.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Combating violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people forms an important part of our wider international human rights work. It is important that all those seeking to leave Ukraine are able to do so; we will continue to liaise with authorities on the ground to ensure this principle is respected.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the US-UK agreement on the leasing of the Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands in the British Indian Ocean Territories includes permission for the US to (a) build and (b) operate the Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance system as part of outer space communications.
Answered by Nigel Adams
There is no lease with respect to Diego Garcia. US presence and operations in the British Indian Ocean Territory are governed by a series of international agreements, beginning with a 1966 Exchange of Notes between the US and UK, which set out that the whole Territory should be made available for UK and US defence purposes.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proposals the Government has put forward in the UN conference on Disarmament to control the (a) weaponisation and (b) militarisation of outer space.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
HMG is committed to maintaining outer space as a peaceful, safe, and stable environment vital for our social, economic and scientific development. Technological developments in areas such as anti-satellite missiles and jamming of navigational systems increase the threats to space systems both from the ground and in space. The UK therefore proposed a new resolution on 'Reducing Space Threats Through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours' which was adopted in the UN Disarmament and International Security Committee (First Committee) and then by the General Assembly on 7 December 2020, with the support of 164 countries. This resolution calls on all UN member states to study existing and potential threats and security risks to space systems and share their ideas on norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours to reduce the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculation. The UN Secretary General will produce a report for further discussion by Member States.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the recommendation on page 26 of the Committee on Climate Change's 2020 Progress Report to Parliament, published in June 2020, what plans he has to develop a plan to address the scale of climate risk that the UK faces from climate change overseas.
Answered by James Duddridge
Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face today. The UK is committed to tackling climate change, which is why we bid to host COP26 in Glasgow in partnership with Italy. COP 26 must persuade a domestic and global audience that the zero carbon economy is the growth story of the next ten years, that this transition is irreversible and accelerating, and that it will be fair and inclusive. As the first country to legislate to end our contribution to global warming, the UK is leading by example as a global force for good.
COP26 is an international priority for FCO. The FCO is contributing to a strongly coordinated cross-Government approach to ensure ambitious climate action across the world, which protects the most vulnerable, while also addressing the scale of climate risk that the UK faces from climate change overseas. The FCO and Cabinet Office COP Unit are well integrated to ensure a coherent, well-coordinated diplomatic effort. The FCO has also recently appointed four Regional Ambassadors to support global engagement. The UK has c180 diplomats engaged globally on climate issues and FCO Climate and Energy Attaché Network has expanded by 50 local staff in FY19/20 to help deliver COP26.
Through this extensive diplomatic effort, bilateral and multilateral fora, working with governments, businesses, and civil societies, we are calling for all countries to: enhance greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments (known as "Nationally Determined Contributions"); and bring forward long-term climate strategies. We are also seeking to deliver campaigns on Adaptation and Resilience, Nature, Energy Transition, Zero Emissions Vehicles, and Finance.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on securing the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The permanent release of all arbitrarily detained dual nationals in Iran and their return to their families in the UK remains our top priority. While the further extension of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's temporary release is a welcome step, we continue to urge the Iranian Government to make it permanent so she can return to her family in the UK and will continue to raise this at the highest levels with Iran. The Foreign Secretary raised this with Foreign Minister Zarif on 16 March and I raised this with the Iranian Ambassador on 26 March. Our Ambassador in Tehran consistently raises all of our dual national detainees with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps is he taking to ensure that health organisations across the world are providing consistent advice and taking consistent action in relation to covid-19.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK continues to support global efforts to combat the outbreak of COVID-19. We have world leading medical expertise, an unparalleled diplomatic network and experience working with countries to overcome public health emergencies. Our overseas missions have prioritised efforts to engage foreign governments on COVID-19 response. The UK is also working closely with our G7 partners, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the EU and other international partners.
The British Government is providing £5m to WHO (~10% of the current appeal) to help counter the spread in developing countries and is deploying UK medical experts to priority countries. Through the WHO, the UK is funding efforts to reduce the risk of the spread of the disease by supporting developing countries most at risk of coronavirus. This includes training rapid response teams and medical staff to identify and respond to symptoms, raising awareness in developing countries of how to avoid coronavirus and predicting the spread of the virus to better target future support.