Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 19
3rd Report - The Government’s efforts to achieve SDG2: Zero Hunger
Published 18 Mar 2025
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee The UK Government’s work on achieving SDG2: Zero Hunger All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government has an excellent opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to leadership on SDG2 by doing everything it can to ensure that the Nutrition for Growth summit is a success. We wait with anticipation for the announcements the Government intends to make at the summit regarding the integration of programming around this goal. Beyond this, there is scope for the Government to use its convening power to coordinate a series of international actions and milestones to harmonise the work of the various fora working on aspects of the Goal. (Conclusion, Paragraph 66)
From: International Development Committee, 3rd Report - The Government’s efforts to achieve SDG2: Zero Hunger (HC 515), 18 March 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 May 2025 (deadline 18 May 2025).
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 on SDG2 mostly 'partially' agrees with its recommendations, disagrees with reconsidering the cut in ODA, and ties many decisions to the ongoing Spending Review.
- On the reduction in ODA from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI, the Government says it "disagree[s] with this recommendation", calling the decision "a necessary one", and remains committed to returning to 0.7% "when fiscal circumstances allow".
- It does not think separate assessments of climate finance or of the impact on smallholder farmers are appropriate or warranted "at this stage", but "will consider the case for further impact assessment in 2026", depending on the Spending Review outcome.
- On the Child Nutrition Fund pledge, the Government says it is "not in a position to agree or disagree" and will set out spending plans after the Spending Review.
- It agrees on staffing, saying it "hope[s] to recruit new Food and Agriculture advisory expertise to fill critical gaps in 2025/2026", and has paused the Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy refresh, to consider "options for updating it" after the Spending Review.