Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of accommodation in Glasgow for the 26th Conference of the Parties.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has assessed the availability of accommodation for the 26th Conference of the Parties within Glasgow and a one hour radius of Glasgow. We are confident that sufficient accommodation is available.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using cruise liners to provide accommodation for attendees at 26th Conference of the Parties in Glasgow.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not made an assessment of the potential merits of using cruise liners. Our expectation is that there will be sufficient accommodation within Glasgow and the surrounding region for attendees.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what executive authority the President of the 26th Conference of the Parties, UN Climate Conference will have over staff within the his Department that are working on climate diplomacy.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The British Government are aware of the need for strong and coordinated senior ministerial governance on COP26. The Prime Minister will chair a new Cabinet Committee on Climate Change attended by the Foreign Secretary. The COP President will report to the Prime Minister and will be based in the Cabinet Office, working closely with the newly established COP unit. We anticipate appointments being made to this unit from across Whitehall Departments.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of energy and climate change policy staffing resources his Department requires to host the COP26 UN Climate Conference in 2020.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
COP26 will require a whole-of-government effort, including strong diplomatic engagement. Both UK-based and locally-engaged staff across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's network will continue to hold climate change diplomacy as a personal priority, and it will remain a Priority in our Embassies and High Commissions. We will be increasing our network of climate attaches.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full time equivalent staff worked on climate change and energy in (a) his Department's UK-based offices and (b) embassies, high commissions and other overseas posts in each year from and including 2010 to 2019.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) works actively across the international climate and energy agenda in partnership with the work of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and other government departments. Some of the functions previously filled by FCO staff are now delivered by officials in these departments, for example, international climate change strategy and policy.
Climate Change and Energy (CCE) work is a network-wide priority, so forms part of a wide range of officers' work, including Heads of Mission and staff at all levels. The time allocated varies widely from a very small part of an officer's time to full time work on CCE.
The table below shows numbers of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) FCO staff working on CCE issues. Staffing figures rely on individual staff members' recording of their activities.
Financial Year | FTE FCO Staff working in London | FTE FCO Staff working overseas | Total |
2009/10 | 69.175 | 264.951 | 334.126 |
2010/11 | 47.493 | 204.508 | 252.001 |
2011/12 | 48.278 | 166.218 | 214.496 |
2012/13 | 43.840 | 169.939 | 213.779 |
2013/14 | 44.897 | 156.699 | 201.596 |
2014/15 | 41.482 | 162.824 | 204.306 |
2015/16 | 31.937 | 148.539 | 180.476 |
2016/17 | 18.77 | 111.86 | 130.63 |
2017/18 | 11.505 | 97.019 | 108.524 |
2018/19 | 10.19 | 96.712 | 106.902 |
2019/20 | 19.59 | 109.067 | 128.657 |
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials are employed in (a) his Department's London offices and (b) the UK's global diplomatic network work on climate security.
Answered by James Duddridge
As of January 2016 149 full-time equivalent staff resource was spent on our Climate Change/Low Carbon Economy/Energy Security work across our network of 268 offices in 168 countries. Of these, 72 staff were working full-time on Climate Change and Energy issues.
As of June 2016 nine full-time equivalent staff in London work directly on climate change issues.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office allocation of resource is kept under regular review as staff and local priorities change, so there is a quite regular flux in numbers and locations. For example, in the run up to COP21, there was an increase in Ministerial and network engagement related to the Paris negotiations, to build support for a successful agreement.