Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of diplomatic relations with Kiribati.

The Republic of Kiribati remains a valued partner for the UK. We work closely, bilaterally and in multilateral fora.

I last met the President of Kiribati at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, 2018. We covered issues of mutual importance, particularly climate change and oceans. As my honourable friend will be aware, Kiribati is under significant pressure from the threat of rising sea levels. The UK’s Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme is funding a project to map Kiribati’s seabed to support new maritime infrastructure.

I have also worked with Kiribati at the United Nations General Assembly, the Pacific Island Forum and our recent UK and New Zealand Wilton Park Conference on Pacific resilience. As we continue to expand our diplomatic presence in the Pacific we expect our engagement to further increase.