Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 51
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 ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Access to climate finance remains a significant challenge for LDCs, SIDS and grassroots organisations. For Global Britain to be a credible “force for good”, we urge the Government to use its COP presidency and position as a key donor to the multilateral climate funds to accomplish the following: • Firstly, to champion the introduction of simplified criteria for the accreditation process of multilateral funds and for assessing applications from LDCs and SIDS in line with their limited capacities. • Secondly, to encourage other donors to make direct access a priority in their investments in LDCs and SIDS. • Thirdly, the Government should tell us in their response the date on which they are finally going to publish their International Climate Finance strategy. • Finally, to present us by 31 January 2022 with the measures that the Government is proposing to multilateral organisations to shorten the length of the approval process as announced by the Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith during our oral evidence session. The Government should set out how these measures address the full range of issues raised by LDCs and SIDS at the Climate and Development Ministerial in March 2021. 103 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) (CDC0048) 104 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) (CDC0048) 105 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (CDC0016) 106 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (CDC0016) 107 Q109 [Vel Gnanendran] 108 Q109 [Vel Gnanendran] 109 Q109 [Lord Goldsmith] Global Britain in demand: UK climate action and international development around COP26 21 Definition of terms & transparency
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.