Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 77
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)
At the Climate and Development Ministerial on 31 March 2021, the Government launched the ‘Climate and Development Pathway’, including the commitment to operationalise the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage before COP26.166 While participants of a subsequent Ministerial meeting on 25-26 July 2021 agreed on the need for urgent action, they disagreed on the creation of a separate funding line for loss and damage.167 159 As with climate finance, there is no official definition of loss and damage. In line with our predecessor Committee, we understand it as “the impacts of climate change that cannot be avoided through mitigation or adaptation.” See: International Development Committee, UK aid for combating climate change (HC 1432), Paragraph 158, 8 May 2019 160 Q58 [Catherine Pettengell], Q76 [Nick Mabey] 161 Bond and Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) (CDC0045), CARE International UK (CDC0029), Practical Action (CDC0040), Quakers in Britain (CDC0004) 162 Bond and Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) (CDC0045) 163 Bond and Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) (CDC0045) 164 Bond and Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) (CDC0045) 165 Q16 [Diann Black-Layne] 166 UK COP26, Climate and Development Pathway, accessed 26 October 2021 167 UK COP26, July Ministerial Chairs Summary, 5 August 2021 28 Global Britain in demand: UK climate action and international development around COP26 UK’s response—loss and damage
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.