Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of her international development budget is allocated to environmental restoration projects as of 11 January 2022.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK has committed to invest at least £3 billion in climate change solutions that protect and restore nature and biodiversity between 2021-22 and 2025-26. FCDO systems to categorise Official Development Assistance do not include a specific category for environmental restoration, and we do not hold information centrally on such spending.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Brazilian government on deforestation in the Amazon.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK regularly engages with the Brazilian Government on deforestation in the Amazon. In the run up to, and during COP26, COP President Alok Sharma met with Brazil's Environment Minister Joaquim Leite regularly, and The Minister for the Pacific and the Environment met with many Brazilian State Governors who are essential partners in meeting deforestation targets and climate change commitments. Our Ambassador to Brazil, Peter Wilson, also met with the Minister for the Environment, Joaquim Leite, on two occasions in December as well as with Senate Speaker Pacheco. The UK will continue to work with the Federal Government, state level leadership, the private sector and civil society to help tackle deforestation and protect the rainforest.
While we are concerned by the rising rates of deforestation in the Amazon, we were pleased to welcome Brazil's positive commitments at COP26. Brazil signed the Forest and Land Use pledge and committed to eliminating illegal deforestation by 2028, and to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. The UK will support this and other climate commitments by doubling our International Climate Finance to £11.6 billion over the next five years - we will be investing at least £3 billion of this in solutions that protect and restore nature. The introduction of world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Bill will also tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress she has made on Government plans to bring Afghan political refugees with family in the UK to the UK.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Providing assistance to those individuals eligible for HMG support remains a top priority. We have created a new Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit (JACU), staffed by officials from the FCDO, Home Office and Ministry of Defence, which is taking forward the UK's commitment to resettle individuals and those family members confirmed to be eligible. We will continue to work to take advantage of all opportunities to help those eligible to come to the UK to leave Afghanistan. We have also announced the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), which in its first year will welcome up to 5,000 vulnerable Afghans to the UK who have been forced to flee the country, with up to a total of 20,000 over the coming years. ACRS will provide protection for Afghan citizens at risk, including women and girls and members of minority groups, and who have stood up for our democratic values in Afghanistan.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What support she is providing to marine habitat restoration projects in the developing world.
Answered by Vicky Ford
This Government is substantially increasing investment in protecting the ocean. Our Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme assists developing Caribbean and Pacific island nations to safeguard their marine habitats, which are essential for sustaining coastal economies. The new £500 million Blue Planet Fund was launched by the Prime Minister in June. It will support, for example, protecting coral reefs and mangroves.