Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 12
Second Report - Global Britain in demand: UK climate action and international development around COP26
Published 26 Oct 2021
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Climate change, development and COP26 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Dr Lisa Schipper also told us that staff at the FCDO faced pressure to deliver results swiftly.26 She added that the FCDO officers to whom she presented her paper on maladaptation were “fully aware” of the risks of maladaptation but were “operating within a structure that does not allow them to step away from these kinds of problems”.27 17 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Glossary of key terms, accessed 26 October 2021 18 Q7 [Dr Lisa Schipper], Q19 [Cecília da Silva Bernardo] Q34 [Julius Ng’oma] 19 British Red Cross (CDC0028) 20 Q7 [Dr Lisa Schipper] 21 Q8 [Dr Lisa Schipper] 22 Q6 [Dr Lisa Schipper] 23 Q7 [Dr Lisa Schipper] 24 Reference to the “The Villagisation Programme targeting pastoralists and the Ethiopian Agricultural Development Led Industrialisation (ADLI) strategies”. See: Eriksen et al, Adaptation interventions and their effect on vulnerability in developing countries: Help, hindrance or irrelevance?, World Development, Volume 141, p.4, May 2021 25 Eriksen et al, Adaptation interventions and their effect on vulnerability in developing countries: Help, hindrance or irrelevance?, World Development, Volume 141, p.4, May 2021 26 Q10 [Dr Lisa Schipper] 27 Q8 [Dr Lisa Schipper] Global Britain in demand: UK climate action and international development around COP26 11 UK’s response—maladaptation
From: International Development Committee, Second Report - Global Britain in demand: UK climate action and international development around COP26 (HC 99), 26 October 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 January 2022 (deadline 26 December 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response to the Committee's report is mostly 'Partially agree', with 'Agree' on two recommendations, while declining the Committee's 31 January 2022 deadline for a locally-led adaptation pathway.
- On locally-led adaptation, it says it "agree[s] that locally led adaptation is critical" but is "not able to agree" to submit a pathway by 31 January 2022, citing the need to work with others, in particular Egypt as incoming COP27 Presidency. It "will report on progress by 31 March".
- On climate finance access, it agrees and says it is working to update the International Climate Finance Strategy and "aim to publish this by April 2022". It is not "proposing a simplification of the criteria for LDCs and SIDS per se", but a streamlined accreditation approach.
- On fossil fuel exemptions, it partially agrees, stating the exemptions are for "a small number of situations" and are "necessary to make this policy work in the real world". BII is developing a carbon budget and "will share this information with the Committee in due course".
- On a Climate and Development Minister, it partially agrees, stating there is "already strong ministerial oversight for this policy area", with Lord Goldsmith holding responsibility for climate and environment.