Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK Small Island Developing States strategy 2022 to 2026, published on 27 February 2023, when the Small Island Developing States Envoy will be appointed.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK Special Envoy for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Rebecca Fabrizi, was appointed in April 2022.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he had discussions with his counterparts in (a) Australia, (b) New Zealand and (c) France on the UK's Small Island Developing States strategy in the Indo-Pacific region when preparing the policy paper entitled UK Small Island Developing States strategy 2022 to 2026, published on 27 February 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Prior to the publication of the paper, discussions have been held on the UK's approach to the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Hub's issues at official level with Australia, New Zealand and France. Within the Indo-Pacific region, discussions with partners take place at all levels including through the Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative of which Australia and New Zealand are members and France has participated in discussions.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his G7 counterparts on the engagement of Caribbean countries with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Answered by David Rutley
The OECD has a well-established Regional Programme which includes countries of the Caribbean (the Latin America & Caribbean Regional Programme - LACRP). The UK is co-chair of the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) Working Group at the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and is in regular contact with G7 members on the breadth of issues that affect the region.
In 2022 the UK, Belize, Fiji and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) launched a new `Friends of SIDS' group that will also link to wider issues of concern in the Caribbean. That group will work to promote the recommendations of the Call to Action on SIDS Access to Finance.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the 20 per cent tariff for tuna exported from the Maldives to the UK given (1) the sustainability of the Maldivian tuna industry, and (2) the zero tariff for tuna exports from all other members of the Commonwealth small island developing states (SIDS).
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
The UK currently applies the UK Global Tariff of 20% to imports of tuna from the Maldives. This rate is also applied to imports from all other trading partners where preferential arrangements are not in place.
The Government continues to explore pragmatic opportunities to enhance bilateral trade relations with the Maldives in areas of mutual interest, including fishing.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what bilateral financial assistance his Department is providing to Pacific Island nations to help with mitigating the risk of climate change.
Answered by David Rutley
Pacific Island Countries (PICs), as Small Island Developing States (SIDs), are amongst the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. At COP27 the UK reaffirmed commitment to the Glasgow Climate Pact, and will continue to work closely with Pacific Island Countries to reform the international architecture to improve SIDs access to finance. In November 2021, we announced the 'Small Island Developing States Adaptation and Resilience' Programme, which will help SIDs draw down climate and wider concessional finding.
In November, the Minister for Indo-Pacific attended the 12th Pacific Community Ministerial conference, and expressed support for the Pacific Island Forum's recently launched 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continent.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a loss and damage fund as part of his Autumn Statement.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Government is working with vulnerable countries to improve their resilience and response to climate shocks and is already funding activities that avert, minimise and address losses and damages incurred from climate shocks, including: adaptation, disaster risk reduction and improving responses following climate shocks and disasters.
In response to discussions with vulnerable countries, the Prime Minister announced at COP27 that the UK was tripling its adaptation spend to £1.5bn by 2025 to help communities be better prepared and reduce the impacts of climate change.
We are committed to helping developing countries deliver on their own green growth pathways. The UK, as the world leading sustainable finance centre, is helping developing countries raise finance for their green growth, including COP27 host Egypt’s $750mn first sovereign green bond issuance on the London Stock Exchange in 2020. We have also continued to build on the commitments we made at COP26 in Glasgow to support countries’ green growth, through Just Energy Transition Partnerships. The UK is delivering a $1.8bn guarantee for South Africa, as the largest sovereign donor in the total $8.5bn package, which will support coal plant decommissioning, ensuring affected communities are not left behind, and investing in renewables.
The UK is a strong supporter of Disaster Risk Finance (DRF) helping people better manage the impacts of disasters. The UK committed £120m at Carbis Bay and have invested over £200m in DRF since 2014. Pre-arranged finance such as contingent credit or insurance enable quicker responses that can pre-empt damage. Early action is more cost-efficient and enables communities to recover more quickly.
The UK government has also led in measures to help improve the financial resilience of vulnerable countries such as low-income countries and small island developing states in the face of severe climate shocks. At COP27, UK Export Finance announced they would become the first export credit agency in the world to offer climate resilient debt clauses (CRDCs) in its direct sovereign lending. CRDCs will allow countries to defer debt payments in the event of a severe climate shock or natural disaster and enable them to focus on responding and recovering from a crisis. The UK is working the multilateral development banks and the private sector to embed CRDCs into standard loan and bond contracts.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question
To ask the President of COP26, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that climate finance committed by (a) the UK and (b) other high-income countries reaches frontline communities.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Under the UK’s Presidency, 95% of the largest developed country climate finance providers made new, forward-looking climate finance commitments, with many doubling or even quadrupling their support for developing countries to take climate action. These pledges mean that the $100 billion finance goal will be met by developed countries by 2023 at the latest. At COP26, there was significant progress on adaptation finance, with agreement in the Glasgow Climate Pact that developed countries should at least double their finance for adaptation to developing countries against 2019 levels by 2025.
To improve access to climate finance, the UK launched the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance at COP26, in partnership with Fiji as co-chair and the Taskforce’s Steering Committee, including the US, Germany and Sweden. The Taskforce’s approach responds to calls for reform from developing countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This year, the focus is on implementation and will help ensure climate vulnerable countries and communities get the finance they need faster, and in alignment with their own plans and priorities.
At COP26, over $450m was mobilised for initiatives and programmes enhancing locally-led adaptation approaches through the Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR), Financing Locally-Led Climate Action Program (FLLoCA), Community Resilience Partnership Program (CRPP) and the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance.
The UK Presidency is encouraging commitments from climate providers to set out how they are getting behind the need to implement the Principles for Locally-led adaptation (which currently have over 70 endorsements from governments and organisations), with further finance into relevant climate funds, programmes and initiatives relevant to locally-led adaptation, and enhanced access to finance to support delivery of national and local adaptation priorities.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question
To ask the President of COP26, what discussions he has had during his presidency with Small Island Developing States on climate mitigation and adaptation.
Answered by Lord Sharma
I have had regular engagement with the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) throughout the UK’s COP26 Presidency.
I have held meetings with representatives from many countries, and also with representative groups for the regions, including the Caribbean and Pacific regions, such as CARICOM and the Pacific Island Forum.
Over 2021 and 2022, I have visited Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Jamaica. In all countries, my climate change discussions were wide-ranging and covered global climate ambition and mitigation, the urgency of climate adaptation and issues around loss and damage, among many other topics.
In addition to this I will visit Fiji later this month, and will also meet with regional institution representatives, civil society groups and climate champions during my time there.
Regional Ambassadors for COP26, Fiona Clouder and Ken O’Flaherty, have also discussed a wide range of topics with SIDS and conducted several visits.
The UK is committed to ensuring the voices of all SIDS are heard in the run-up to COP27, in partnership with Egypt as COP27 Presidency holders.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the IPCC's report entitled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; and whether she plans to take steps to work to reduce the debt owed by countries in the Global South to enable those countries to free up resources to better adapt to climate change.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK agrees with the IPCC that global action to adapt to the changing climate has been insufficient. We recognise how urgent and important it is to ensure countries most vulnerable to climate change are able to respond to the risks they face.
We are providing £11 billion of international climate finance over five years, with an extra £1 billion in 2024-2025 if the economy grows as forecast. Recent UK commitments on adaptation include significant support to developing countries, with £274 million to help countries across Asia and the Pacific to build resilience, £143.5 million to support African countries to adapt and almost £50 million to help Small Island Developing States.
The UK has put action on climate change and debt at the top of its international agenda with our COP26 Presidency in 2021/22. We have increased the level of quality climate financing, which means offering financing to countries on terms that are suitable to their economic situation and consistent with their path to a more sustainable debt situation. This includes the provision of grants for countries at highest risk of debt distress.
We are working to ensure that countries get effective and timely debt treatments that put them on a more fiscally sustainable path and allow them to channel future funds to productive investments that are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, including climate change adaptation. In November 2020, the UK, along with the G20 and Paris Club, agreed the Common Framework to help deliver a long-term sustainable approach for supporting lower income countries to tackle their debt vulnerabilities.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2022 to Question 116890, on Climate Change: Developing Countries, what support will be available for debt-vulnerable Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that are not eligible for debt treatment assistance under the Common Framework for Debt Treatment.
Answered by John Glen
Of the 73 low-income countries that are eligible for the Common Framework, 22 are Small Island Developing States. Countries that are ineligible for the Common Framework may still apply for a debt treatment from the Paris Club. The UK is a longstanding member of the Paris Club and has a strong record of working with international partners to assist countries on their road to longer-term debt sustainability.
The UK has also committed to double our International Climate Finance to developing countries to at least £11.6bn between 2021 and 2025. We recognise that the challenge of adaptation and resilience is immediate, and often more acute for Small Island Developing States than for many other states. We will continue to balance mitigation spend 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, including Small Island Developing States.