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On 30 March 2023, the House of Lords is scheduled to debate the following motion tabled by Lord Naseby (Conservative):

To ask HM Government what plans they have to introduce new economic policies to address the challenges of climate change in developing countries, particularly those that are members of the Commonwealth.

1. Risk to developing countries from climate change

In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN body responsible for assessing the science on climate change, published a report finding that approximately 3.3 to 3.6 billion people lived in areas that were vulnerable to climate change. The report found that:

Global hotspots of high human vulnerability are found particularly in west, central and east Africa, south Asia, central and south America, small island developing states and the Arctic. Vulnerability is higher in locations with poverty, governance challenges and limited access to basic services and resources, violent conflict and high levels of climate-sensitive livelihoods (eg smallholder farmers, pastoralists, fishing communities).

According to the UK government, of the 54 Commonwealth members, 32 are small states and 25 are small island developing states (SIDS). The UK government has said many of these countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural disasters.

In its report ‘Extreme poverty and the sustainable development goals’ (December 2022), the House of Commons International Development Committee identified climate change as one of three recent drivers of poverty around the world. The other drivers were the Covid-19 pandemic and the increased levels of conflict. The committee also described climate change as a “threat multiplier”, arguing it exacerbated existing inequalities and “[amplified] risk and deprivation for the most vulnerable, including children”.

2. UK government policy

The UK government has said that one way it is helping countries affected by climate change is by working to achieve a reduction in global emissions, including through its strategy to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. It has also said it is providing support to countries in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In January 2023, the shadow Treasury minister, Tulip Siddiq, asked a parliamentary question about what recent steps the government had taken to help support developing countries affected by climate change. The minister of state in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Anne-Marie Trevelyan, responded that the government had worked with partner countries to reduce carbon emissions during its presidency of the conference of the parties (COP) to the UN framework convention on climate change. Ms Trevelyan said that, as a result of the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed during the COP27 conference in Glasgow, countries around the world were closer to achieving a rise in global average temperatures of only 1.5 degrees. She also said that, during the UK’s COP presidency, “over 90% of world gross domestic product [was] now covered by net zero commitments”.

Ms Trevelyan also explained how the UK was providing support to developing countries to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change through international climate finance (ICF). This is a joint fund split between the FCDO, the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Ms Trevelyan said the government had committed to doubling the size of funding provided through ICF to £11.6bn between 2021/22 and 2025/26. She said ICF had helped over 95 million people cope with the effects of climate change. She also said the fund would provide 58 million people with improved access to clean energy. These figures were taken from the government’s report ‘UK international climate finance results 2022’ (October 2022).

3. Support for Commonwealth countries

In 2018, at the start of the UK’s most recent two-year period as chair-in-office of the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth heads of government meeting made a series of commitments, which are set out in a communiqué entitled “Towards a common future”. The communiqué included a commitment to take urgent action to “mitigate climate change, reduce vulnerability and increase resilience”. It also called for:

[…] consensus on the use of vulnerability measures to target appropriate support to those member countries most affected by natural disasters, including extreme weather events, dependent on need.

In May 2022, the FCDO published an update on the progress made in achieving the objectives set out in the 2018 communiqué. The FCDO said that the UK had:

  • provided support through the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub to help the most climatically vulnerable countries to gain access to finance for climate action
  • provided support to the Commonwealth Blue Charter, an agreement between member countries to cooperate on ocean-related problems and meet commitments for sustainable ocean development
  • allocated funding to support the deployment of dedicated climate advisers in Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and St Lucia; the FCDO said these advisers had helped to mobilise over US$38mn in climate finance for 23 programmes

The government also made a commitment in its ‘Strategy for international development’ (May 2022) to provide support to SIDS. The government stated that the UK would help SIDS develop both “economic and climate resilience” through international aid and climate finance support, with the goal of enabling these countries to no longer need UK aid by 2030.

During a House of Commons debate on financial security and inequality in the Caribbean, Clive Lewis (Labour MP for Norwich South), argued the UK had a duty to provide support to countries in the region as a result of its colonial history. Mr Lewis criticised the government, arguing it had reduced aid spending overall. The parliamentary under secretary of state at the FCDO, David Rutley, said the government was continuing to provide support in the region, including through the government’s £35mn-a-year funding for building climate-resilient infrastructure. Mr Rutley also said the government was providing support to help vulnerable groups find employment, and to help small and medium-sized enterprises.

4. 2023 integrated review

On 13 March 2023, the government published ‘Integrated review refresh 2023: Responding to a more contested and volatile world’. This included the following commitment about the Commonwealth:

The UK will also seek to strengthen the Commonwealth, as an organisation that accounts for over a quarter of the membership of the UN and a champion of values at the heart of an open international order. We will deepen cooperation with Commonwealth partners and institutions to enhance the benefits of membership for all 2.5 billion Commonwealth citizens, further strengthen intra-Commonwealth trade, support members facing challenges in attracting inward investment, and strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable members to climate change, nature loss and environmental degradation.

During the statement on the new integrated review in the House of Commons on 13 March 2023, the shadow health and social care minister, Andrew Gwynne, asked the foreign secretary how the review might create “a modern, dynamic, refreshed friendship” with Commonwealth countries. Mr Gwynne also criticised the government’s review on this point, arguing it contained only “passing reference” to the Commonwealth. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly responded:

Although we have not made many references to the Commonwealth discretely in this review, the Commonwealth is interwoven through much of what we do. The geographical nature of the Commonwealth means, inevitably, that our Indo-Pacific tilt will be delivered in partnership with Commonwealth countries, as of course AUKUS [the Australia, UK and US partnership] will be with Australia. […] I assure the hon. gentleman that the UK wants to see the Commonwealth being a meaningful, active and useful vehicle for the member states, particularly the small island states that disproportionately create the membership of the Commonwealth. I reassure him that even if this is not written down explicitly, it is absolutely interwoven throughout this document.

5. Commonwealth Day 2023

The theme for this year’s Commonwealth Day on 13 March 2023 was “Forging a sustainable and common future”. The Commonwealth Secretariat said this theme:

[…] combines the active commitment of member states to support the promotion of peace, prosperity and sustainability, especially through climate action, so as to secure a better future for our young people and improve the lives of all Commonwealth citizens.

During his statement on the integrated review on 13 March 2023, the foreign secretary confirmed that he would be meeting with the leaders of Commonwealth countries throughout the week.

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Cover image by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Wikimedia Commons.