Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps she has taken to promote the importance of access to safe water and sanitation to improve climate change resilience.

Through the International Climate Fund (ICF) the UK government is providing significant investment to help improve water security and support sustainable growth to reduce poverty.

For example, a UK-funded programme in South Asia is enabling seven countries to manage their shared water resources more effectively and to reduce the risk of conflict. This will help improve the lives of the 700 million people living beside the great Himalayan Rivers of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra.

Last month the Prime Minister announced that UK climate funding will increase by at least 50% over the next five years. The UK also reaffirmed its commitment to achieve a 50:50 balance between adaptation and mitigation spend over this period.