Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to integrate water, sanitation and hygiene into the UK’s international (a) climate adaptation and (b) resilience programmes.

Since 2020 we have supported UNICEF to help governments in climate-vulnerable countries strengthen the resilience of water, sanitation and hygiene services. This work extends from climate risk assessments, capacity building and systems strengthening, to establishing risk-informed policies and plans. The latter includes Nationally Declared Commitments and National Adaptation Plans. This work has also helped governments prepare multiple proposals for climate finance worth over £250 million over the last four years, potentially benefitting up to 9 million people with climate resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services. The UK also supports the World Bank to develop climate resilient water and sanitation services, as well as the Resilient Water Accelerator. This aims to establish a pipeline of climate resilient water and sanitation programmes that are attractive to private investors.