Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of levels of sovereign debt on lower income countries' ability to invest in climate change (1) mitigation, and (2) adaptation.

The UK recognises the significant debt vulnerabilities faced by many low-income countries and that high debt service levels may impact efforts to invest in and respond to climate change, as well as other development goals.

To support low-income countries to tackle their debt vulnerabilities, in November 2020 the UK, alongside our G20 and Paris Club partners, agreed a new Common Framework for Debt Treatment beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. This brings together, for the first time, G20 and Paris Club creditors to coordinate debt treatments following a request from any of the 73 eligible low-income countries. Private sector creditors will be expected to implement debt treatments on at least as favourable terms as those agreed by official creditors.

The UK has also committed to double our International Climate Finance to developing countries to at least £11.6bn between 2021 and 2025, continuing to balance mitigation with adaptation spend. Over the last 10 years, UK International Climate Finance has supported 88 million people to cope with the effects of climate change, providing 41 million with improved access to clean energy and avoided or reduced 51 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

As COP26 Presidency and G7 Presidency, we made it a priority to demonstrate progress on the goal to mobilise $100bn a year in climate finance from developed to developing countries to 2025. Under the UK COP26 Presidency, 95% of the largest developed country climate finance providers made new, forward-looking commitments, with many doubling or even quadrupling their support for developing countries to take climate action. It is now likely that $500 billion will be mobilised over the period 2021-25. This means more money for developing countries to decarbonise and adapt to the impacts of climate change.