Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the economic effect of climate change does not result in a disproportionate reduction in adolescent girls accessing education.

Coping with climate change is a challenge that faces us all and it is having wide ranging effects on economies, livelihoods, access to education and natural resources. The poorest communities, and girls and women within them, are likely to be hardest hit, which is why we are investing in building the resilience of the world’s poorest by doubling our International Climate Finance which since 2011, has helped 57 million people cope with the effects of climate change.

We know that girls are two and half times more likely to be out of school in emergencies, including climate related emergencies. That’s why at the G7 Summit in 2019, the Prime Minister announced an unprecedented £90 million commitment for education in emergencies over 4½ years. This included £85 million to Education Cannot Wait the global fund for education in emergencies. UK support has helped the fund reach over a million of the most vulnerable girls, including those affected by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The £90 million investment is a key plank of the PM’s plan to ensure more girls benefit from 12 years of education.

As the leading global actor on girl’s education, we will continue to make substantial investments supporting marginalised girls in education. The UK’s Flagship Girls’ Education Challenge, the largest global fund to girls’ education, is now supporting up to 1.5 million girls across 17 countries.