Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the article in Nature entitled Tropical deforestation causes large reductions in observed precipitation, published on 1 March 2023, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of that article's findings.

The University of Leeds research adds to the large body of evidence on the role of tropical forests in maintaining wellbeing, biodiversity and climate. Reflecting this, the UK's COP26 presidency catalysed a step-change in tackling deforestation: supporting agreement of 145 countries to the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use; establishing new partnerships to improve the sustainability of commodities linked to forest loss; and creating the Forest and Climate Leaders' Partnership (FCLP) to raise ambition. The UK committed to providing £11.6 billion of climate finance over 2021-26, with at least £1.5 billion of this earmarked for forests.