Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international counterparts to help secure the release of Egyptian-British dual national Alaa Abd el-Fattah in Egypt.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK Government regularly discusses human rights issues in Egypt with our international partners, including Mr El-Fattah's case, both privately and in forums such as the UN Human Rights Council. Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government and have been consistently clear in our calls for his release, whilst continuing to press the need for urgent consular access.
The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, most recently on 2 March. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has raised the case several times with the Egyptian Ambassador, most recently on 10 July and also raised it with Foreign Minister Shoukry during his visit to Cairo on 4 April.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the UK's progress on meeting its COP26 spending commitment on international climate finance by 2026.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
As the Prime Minister set out at COP27, we are committed to spending £11.6 billion on international climate finance over the timeframe that was originally envisaged.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of his Department's spending on climate finance has been allocated to (a) mitigation and (b) adaptation in the (i) 2021-22 and (ii) 2022-23 financial years; and what proportion of his Department's planned spending on climate finance is expected to be spent on (A) mitigation and (B) adaptation in (1) 2023-24, (2) 2024-25 and (3) 2025-26.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
In financial year 2021-2022 approximately 64% of UK international climate finance was spent on mitigation and 36% on adaptation. Figures for financial year 2022-2023 and subsequent years will be published in due course. The UK is committed to achieving balance between adaptation and mitigation spending. In support of this and to support the most vulnerable who are experiencing the worst impacts of climate change, we will triple our funding for adaptation from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion in 2025.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UK International Climate Finance Strategy, published on 30 March 2023, how much his Department spent on international climate finance in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23; and how much he plans to spend in each financial year to 2025-26.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK spent over £1.4 billion on international climate finance over the course of the 2021-2022 financial year, supporting developing countries to reduce poverty and respond to the causes and impacts of climate change. Figures for financial year 2022-2023 and subsequent years will be published in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of his Department's climate finance budget was (a) reallocated from the Official Development Assistance budget, (b) reallocated from other budgets held by his Department and (c) new spending in (i) 2021-22 and (ii) 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
UK International Climate Finance (ICF) is Official Development Assistance and is managed as part of a single budget allocation through the spending review process.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether there have been evacuation flights from the Sudan since 1 May; and how many (a) British and (b) other nationals have been evacuated from the Sudan to the UK since that date.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK co-ordinated the longest and largest evacuation of any Western country and brought 2,450 people to safety from Sudan. Between 25 April and 3 May, the UK supported the departure of 1,243 British nationals - and 1,207 other nationals - on 24 flights out of Sudan. The UK Government are no longer running any evacuation operations from Sudan.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department took down the webpage entitled Register your presence in the Sudan with FCDO; and if he will put that webpage up again.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The FCDO temporarily advised British nationals to register their presence in Sudan during the crisis response. This facility was removed on 5 May. The UK Government does not routinely record the location of British nationals abroad and has no plans to reinstate the register your presence site. The UK Government are no longer running evacuation operations from Sudan. British nationals needing assistance should call the 24/7 consular assistance helpline on our Travel Advice.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the freedom and fairness of the forthcoming General Election in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We regularly raise with the Government of Bangladesh, in public and private, the need to take meaningful steps to ensure a transparent and accountable electoral process in 2024. The Foreign Secretary met Prime Minister Hasina in May, and raised the importance of free, fair and participatory elections, and the need for inter-party dialogue. We welcome Bangladesh's commitment to international election observation. The UK will continue to engage with the Government of Bangladesh to support efforts towards a stable, prosperous and democratic Bangladesh.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of World Bank (a) policies on and (b) investment in agriculture on (i) reducing poverty and (ii) increasing food security.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The World Bank has helped protect farmers, local production, and food security in developing countries. The Bank advocates the use of quality seeds and is planning major investments in green fertiliser production. An efficient national agricultural innovation system and an effective seed certification system is essential to meet the challenges agriculture faces in developing countries. The UK is supporting this longer-term goal to do both, boost food security, incomes, and climate adaptation and resilience. The World Bank has committed to full alignment of all its sovereign lending with the Paris Agreement by 1 July 2023. We are holding the Bank to account through the Board.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that World Bank negotiation of Development Policy Financing takes account of seed laws.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The World Bank has helped protect farmers, local production, and food security in developing countries. The Bank advocates the use of quality seeds and is planning major investments in green fertiliser production. An efficient national agricultural innovation system and an effective seed certification system is essential to meet the challenges agriculture faces in developing countries. The UK is supporting this longer-term goal to do both, boost food security, incomes, and climate adaptation and resilience. The World Bank has committed to full alignment of all its sovereign lending with the Paris Agreement by 1 July 2023. We are holding the Bank to account through the Board.