Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Ministerial roundtable on water security, 13 March 2025: outcome statement, published on 14 March 2025, what steps his Department is taking to fulfil those outcomes in the next 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 13 March 2025, the Minister for Development chaired a high-level roundtable, bringing together international Ministers and senior representatives from countries and multilateral institutions to discuss how to drive progress tackling the global water security crisis.
The UK is active in this sector, driving systems transformation to protect freshwater ecosystems and global water supplies, and build resilience for the most vulnerable. Through our Just Transitions for Water Security programme, we are bringing governments, private sector, and civil society together to shape policy, strengthen governance and accountability mechanisms, and shift markets to leverage critically needed investments in water. The UK is also working with international partners to ensure climate-resilient and sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in up to 10 countries.
Alongside this we are working to strengthen the integration of water across the three Rio Conventions on climate, biodiversity, and desertification, as well as within G7, G20 and the UN system.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, who has been appointed as Special Representatives for Nature and Climate; what their qualifications for these posts were; what their budget is; what their (a) aims and (b) objectives are; and whether any of these have been achieved.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Rachel Kyte CMG and Ruth Davis OBE were appointed as the UK's Special Representatives for Climate and for Nature, respectively, on 21 October and 15 November.
Their biographies and objectives are set out at https://www.gov.uk/government/people/rachel-kyte and https://www.gov.uk/government/people/ruth-davis.
These roles are covered by wider Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) budgets. The Special Representatives have agreed priorities with departments, which are being implemented.