Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress UK embassies and consulates are making in securing international business co-operation on tackling climate change.

The FCDO has a key role in delivering a successful COP including in securing international business co-operation in tackling climate change. The Foreign Secretary and FCDO Ministers raise climate change in their engagements with businesses, and our diplomatic network are regularly engaging companies across the globe. These efforts to drive action from businesses and investors on climate change are complemented by the work of Nigel Topping, as the UN High Level Action Champion for COP26 and Mark Carney as the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.

At the UK co-hosted Climate Ambition Summit in December, a number of leading firms came forward with major pledges. For instance Apple pledged carbon neutrality for its supply chain and products by 2030.At the same summit, the UK launched the Race to Resilience: a campaign which brings together businesses and insurance companies, alongside mayors, community leaders and others, to commit to building resilience to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of 4 billion people who are vulnerable to climate risks.