Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department takes to ensure that all UK aid is responsive to climate change and low carbon development.

DFID’s responsibilities on climate and environment derive from the International Development Act’s commitment to sustainable development, based on the substantial evidence that poverty eradication is not possible without tackling climate change. Hence all DFID programmes are assessed for climate and environment opportunities and risks. The capacity of staff to do this has also been strengthened through DFID’s ‘Future Fit’ programme which has helped spending departments identify key climate issues in their programmes.

In addition, the UK’s flagship International Climate Fund (ICF) has been used to comprehensively address climate issues through DFID programmes in climate vulnerable sectors such as forestry, water, agriculture and disaster management. The ICF has already helped 15m people cope with the impacts of climate change, and created 39,000 jobs.