Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 36
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)
We heard that the UK has “a really good story to tell on adaptation”.69 On average, 47% of UK ICF was spent on adaptation in the past four years.70 Furthermore the UK provided 89% of its ICF in grants rather than loans between 2016 and 2019,71 bucking the global trend of an increasing share of loans, rather than grants, in public climate finance between 2013 and 2018.72 62 The Climate Centre, ‘We cannot continue with a situation where adaptation is the poor cousin of mitigation’, 1 April 2021 63 Christian Aid (CDC0047) 64 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Copenhagen Accord, point 8, 18 December 2009 65 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Paris Agreement, Article 9.4, p.15, 12 December 2015 66 United Nations, Delivering on the $100 billion climate finance commitment and transforming climate finance, p.7, December 2020 67 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Climate Finance Provided and Mobilised by Developed Countries: Aggregate Trends Updated with 2019 Data, p.9, 17 September 2021 68 United Nations, Background note on the USD 100 billion goal in the context of UNFCCC process, in relation to advancing on SDG indicator 13.a.1, accessed 26 October 2021 69 Q57 [Catherine Pettengell] 70 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (CDC0016) 71 Gov.uk, UK Biennial Finance Communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 2020, p.5, 12 December 2020 72 OECD, Climate Finance Provided and Mobilised by Developed Countries in 2013–18, p.9, 6 November 2020 Global Britain in demand: UK climate action and international development around COP26 17
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.