Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking ahead of COP26 to work with partners in the global south on tackling climate change.

As host of COP26, securing greater global ambition to address climate change is a priority for this Government. The Foreign Secretary and FCDO ministers regularly raise the subject in their engagements with a wide range of governments. On 31 March, COP President-Designate Alok Sharma and the Foreign Secretary will host the Climate Development Ministerial which will bring together countries and partners including in the global South to identify practical solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing vulnerable countries.

Since 2011 we have helped over 66m people cope with the effects of climate change and natural disasters, and provided 33m people with improved access to clean energy. We actively encourage countries to commit financial support for developing countries most vulnerable to climate change. The UK leads by example - the Prime Minister committed to doubling UK International Climate Finance to £11.6bn over the next 5 years. On 25 January the UK launched an Adaptation Action Coalition to mobilise action on adaptation and galvanise momentum ahead of COP. This was a joint initiative with Egypt, Malawi, St Lucia, Bangladesh, Netherlands and the UN Development Programme.