Sustainable Development Goals Summit

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Thursday 21st September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mott (Con)]

My noble friend makes an important point. It would be wrong for me to stand here today and go into too much detail on the question that he has asked, but I will certainly take it back to the department and ensure that he gets a full answer.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I think the noble Lord, Lord Howell, is absolutely wrong: the SDGs are not the responsibility of the United Nations but the responsibility of every country, every citizen and every private company. They are universal in nature. What my noble friend was trying to highlight is that political leadership is required. The political declaration that was agreed at the high-level political forum committed to targeted measures to eradicate poverty, but we have 745 million more people facing hunger than when the SDGs were agreed, so we are off target. We need political commitment. Can the Minister explain how the recent announcement of easing access to development finance meets the aspirations within the SDGs? We need more political leadership.

[Lord Mott (Con)]

I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Collins of Highbury, about the need for everyone to take ownership and work in partnership. The word “partnership” has certainly come up in the last few weeks in your Lordships’ House. With regard to the need to press on and leadership, the Prime Minister was recently at the G20 where he talked to international colleagues and partners, and he continues to do so. If I may focus on food security and our humanitarian response for a second, the UK will invest over £370 million in global food security this year, including £130 million in the World Food Programme, and over £17 million of this funding will help to improve the effective use of fertiliser and increase food production in vulnerable countries.