Recommendation 5

The Government should ensure its objectives for COP26 are brought into all of the FCDO’s foreign policy activity, including trade deals, decisions on overseas aid and bilateral and multilateral conversations with other UNFCCC parties. The Government’s international development strategy should be published before COP26 and prioritise climate and biodiversity, listing the commitments that the UK will make along with pledges secured by partners. The recovery from covid-19 will require a Marshall Plan-scale commitment from many and the UK should ensure that this aligns with environmental ambitions, embedding a green outlook into a new economy. The FCDO should communicate to its partners that environmental agendas are not in competition but integral to health, development, and security policies. For COP26 to be successful, the Government should ensure alignment with G7, G20 and COP15 processes and decisions. As both the COP26, G7 and G20 Presidents, the UK and Italian Governments are well placed to ensure this alignment.