Climate Change Had Been One Area Ngos, Such As Christian Aid, Have Called on the Parties to Make Explicit Pledges

Dods Monitoring International Development - manifesto commitments 2015

February 2015 Introduction

By Chris Fairbank Senior Political Consultant

In previous years the major three parties have made general and vague commitments to support international development and humanitarian projects. The success of Michael Moore and Bill Cash’s Private Members Bills, as well as the Department for International Development’s (DFID) budget of 0.7 per cent have forced parties to look beyond their typical commitments and go further than their previously ‘obvious’ ideas. Climate change had been one area NGOs, such as Christian Aid, have called on the parties to make explicit pledges. Manifestos are normally just a nod to a deeper, yet unpublished party policy, and 2015 will be no exception, especially as the Conservatives face off against UKIP in many seats. UKIP will use the fact the coalition have provided aid to India, China and Russia in the past few years and a recent NAO report as a tool to attack the modern Conserva- tives. Labour have looked to the public for inspiration on their policy, ‘Britain’s Global Role’ policy commission for ideas and the thrust of policy stance which pledges to focus on tax, climate change and eliminating global poverty by 2030. The Liberal Democrats share the same target and have relied on their membership to steer them towards poli- cies on malaria, gender equality, female genital mutilation (FGM), disability, tax and women's rights. The Conservatives are more of a mystery when it comes to policy formation and development, although would struggle to justify reversing coalition policy which has been pushed by Justine Greening, Andrew Mitchell and David Cameron. Nick Clegg has described the party’s position as “curious” in the past and noted how it was an interesting indicator of divisions throughout all levels of the party. UKIP are unlikely to escape their “bongo bongo land” percep- tions, despite promising to protect £2bn in the aid budget. The various parties international spokespersons; Justine Greening and Philip Hammond (Con), Douglas Alexander and Mary Creagh (Lab), Martin Horwood (Lib Dem), Tony Clarke and Laura Bannister (Green), Humza Yousaf (SNP) and Mike Hookem (UKIP), are unlikely to have to spend much time on the campaign trail defending their policy on development, but the significance of 0.7 per cent of GNI, some £12.5bn in 2015, will not be lost of voters. Labour

Labour commit to ending poverty by 2030

Much of Labour’s policy has been outlined in its ‘Britain’s Global Role’ policy paper. Labour leader Ed Miliband outlined his main priority for the international agenda and for his government, namely to raise global ambitions for combating extreme poverty and inequality, with the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. Shadow international development secretary Mary Creagh has committed the Party to reversing the coalition’s decision to cease funding to the International Labour Organisation. Such a decision would help combat abusive supply chains and free 168 million child workers she said at a recent speech to the IDS. Climate change

Former Energy and Climate Change Secretary of State, Miliband announced that climate change would be a key component of a Labour agenda. Labour policy is to review and raise global targets for reducing carbon emissions every five years with the long term goal of achieving zero net global emissions by the latter half of the century. Mary Creagh outlined the party’s commitment to capping international temperature rises, part of the strategy to stopping millions falling back into poverty. Climate change would be a major aspect of Labour’s foreign policy she said. The commitment was welcomed by Greenpeace, who embraced the global call for a zero carbon world by 2050.

Christian Aid welcomed the announcement, pointing out that there was no greater threat to the world’s poor than severe climate disruption and said the Paris summit would be the greatest opportunity to do something about this. Miliband, in his speech, noted the importance of the Paris summit on climate change, due to be held from 30 No- vember to 11 December 2015. Creagh has previously said that Labour would call for a specific sustainable development goal (SDG) on climate change. Universal health coverage

In a speech to the Institute of Development Studies shadow development secretary Mary Creagh outlined the party’s approach to health in the developing world and their priorities for the coming year. She explained that Labour would establish a Centre for Universal health Coverage, providing global partnerships, support and encouragement to countries that want to supply healthcare. A Labour manifesto will contain a commitment to developing a ‘meso-level’ between poor people in developing countries and giant global health organisations—empowering local people, support by big health, to take charge of their own health and development. Such a move would help the world move ‘beyond aid’. Creagh has also committed to pushing for SDGs on the above issues, as well as tax, disability and human rights. Conservative

Scrutiny and economic prosperity

The Conservativemanifesto in 2010 advocated greater transparency and scrutiny of aid spending, payment by re- sults and creating a ‘MyAid’ Fund to allow the British people to have a greater say on aid spending. 2015 is likely to feature similar themes; increasing scrutiny on spending, disaster resilience work in developing countries and a renewed drive on aid through economic cooperation. The 2010 manifesto stated that “trade and economic growth are the only sustainable way for developing countries to escape poverty” and a Conservative manifesto in 2015 will emphasise the importance of sustainable economic development as an integral part of the next round of Millennium Development Goals, to be decided in September in New York. ‘Aid into trade’ was a central theme of Secretary of State Justine Greening’s2014 conference speech. In a recent speech Justine Greening highlighted ‘economic growth’ as one of the crucial missing elements of the Mil- lennium Development Goals and as an essential component of the 2015 negotiations. Defence through aid?

In her speech to conference in 2014 Justine Greening was keen to emphasise the cross-departmental coordination of development policy, and just how much she cooperated with the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. A Con- servative manifesto may well herald an innovative approach to humanitarian spending and disaster relief, with DFID funding covering some defence costs, such as aircraft carrier deployment or helicopter maintenance. A similar policy was floated in early 2013, but Liberal Democrats in the Treasury and DFID vetoed the move. At the time Cameron announced he was in favour of seeing more of the aid budget diverted to the shared ‘conflict pool’ used by both the MoD and DFID. Any spending would have to meet OECD rules on what constitutes ‘aid spending’. "If you are asking can they work even more closely together to make sure that the funds we have at our disposal are used to provide basic levels of security in deeply broken and fragile states, then yes, we should. That is an important part of development” he said. Such a move will likely placate many backbench MPs and will be targeted at Conserva- tive/UKIP swing voters. Sustainable development

Making a speech to the UN climate change summit in September 2014 David Cameron described climate change as “one of the most serious threats facing our world”. Greening has promised that climate change would be interwo- ven “or mainstreamed” throughout the entire post-2015 framework and is likely to ensure that measures on renewable energy cooperation and skills development with developing countries are included in the manifesto. Both Greening and her predecessor Andrew Mitchell have shown commitment to furthering the role of education, women rights, protection for children and disabilities into the Government’s development psyche, the later of which , Greening has authored the first ever DFID strategy on involving disability in development. Liberal Democrats

TB, HIV and Malaria

The transparency and member-led approach the Liberal Democrats favour ensures that the party’s policy and approach to international and humanitarian issues is no secret—the pre-manifesto document published in late 2014 outlines the party’s goals for humanitarian policy in the coming years. This manifesto document outlined the party’s renewed commitment to eliminating TB, HIV and malaria within a generation. The party has argued that investing in health programmes in developing countries is essential as these diseases disproportionally affect the poor, as witnessed during the recent ebola outbreak which has killed nearly 10,000 people. The pledge featured in the ‘Reducing Poverty and Discrimination’ policy motion, passed at the 2014 conference in Glasgow. Gender and equality strategy

Former development minister Lynne Featherstone spent her ministerial tenure working with governments around the world to change attitudes towards gender equality and specifically the practice of FGM. As a result, the coalition pledged funds to tackle the issue both in the UK and abroad, committing new funds to support the anti-FGM African movement. As a result, 25 African countries have now outlawed that practice. The manifesto is likely to echo the commitment to ending FGM within a generation and also renew efforts to increase the number of prosecutions domestically. The party will also look to include ideas and proposals for a DFID led LGBT and Gender Equality Strategy, enshrining women's’ rights to education and freedom of marriage. The Liberal Democrats were overwhelmingly supportive of Bill Cash’s PMB to enshrine into law the need to consider the impact of every DFID programme on women. Sustainable goals; Climate change, tax, disability and fairtrade

DFID ministers past and present Lynne Featherstone and Baroness Lindsay Northover have been consistent in calling for and outlining Government priorities when it comes to the next round of Millennium Development Goals and ar- guing for strong measures on climate change, tax, disability and fair trade. The later has become a key part of Liberal Democrat policy—in Glasgow the party agreed to ‘encourage and support the Fairtrade movement in promoting 'aid through trade' to ensure that farmers and workers in the developing world receive a fair and stable price for their products, and also to encourage the use of Fairtrade products wherever possible throughout the Parliamentary es- tate’. Energy and Climate Change Secretary of State Ed Davey has pushed the Government further than previously thought possible on the issue of climate change, both domestically and internationally, and the Liberal Democrats will commit to strong targets in their manifesto on climate change, especially important ahead of the Paris summit in De- cember. SNP

In 2010 the SNP committed to meeting the country’s ‘international development commitments’ and building on the strong links already established with Malawi. The SNP’s white paper for an independent Scotland, published before the 2014 referendum outlined the party’s long term policy approach to development and aid. The focus on eliminating ‘unjust debt’, delivering gender equality and a more coherent foreign/development policy are highlighted and prioritised in party policy. The SNP highlight seven priority countries in which to work; Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, Tanzania, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and are likely to fight tooth and nail against any cuts to the DFID budget which would affect 600 jobs at DFID’s administrative offices in East Kilbride. International Development Minister Humza Yousf has, during the independence campaign, argued that Scotland could “do better” at helping developing nations, were they to have control of their own development depart-

UKIP A recent policy paper from UKIP confirmed the party’s intention to cut £9bn from DFID’s budget and reallocate a lot of the capital towards the defence budget and improving flood defence, especially in the South West. UKIP Leader Nigel Farage has committed to operating a smaller DFID budget, most likely rolled back into the operations of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, of about £2bn for disaster relief operations. The remaining funding would be targeted at healthcare initiatives, inoculations against preventable diseases and clean water programmes. UKIP have committed to putting British companies first when it comes to awarding foreign aid contracts and re- turning to the principles enshrined in the UN Convention on Refugees, to help support ‘genuine’ refugees.

Green In a ‘mini-manifesto’ the Green Party have announced their intention to push the world towards renewable energy generation and increasing carbon emission targets across Europe and the world. In 2010 the party called for reform of the UN to better represent poorer countries, a greater emphasis on fair trade and the adoption of ILO standards across the globe. Former Oxfam employee Caroline Lucas believes in increasing aid commitments from 0.7 per cent to 1 per cent and for protecting a separate international development office, free from foreign policy. Green policy supports channelling aid through smaller aid agencies, developing strong sustainable programmes to help developing countries whilst avoiding direct aid and establishing development education centres in the UK to educate British children about how development works and the need for sustainable foreign policy. Conclusions As the world looks to the two key meetings in September and December in New York and Paris, the UK turns in- wards to decide on a party or combination of party’s to represent the country at those meetings. How and to whom a Government allocates climate change and international development aid will be fascinating to watch. Those with a keen interest in international development and humanitarian issues will be glued to the coverage of any potential coalition negotiations. The worrying aspect is whether any coalition with UKIP involves tit-for-tat policy making and the agreement to abandon the aid budget in exchange for a more left wing policy being adopted. Would cutting the aid budget be a ‘red line issue’ for a Conservative/UKIP coalition, or would UKIP prioritise EU reform, im- migration changes, the increasing the defence budget, or changing the tax system ? There is a fear that the Conservatives could use a similar idea to the ‘My Aid’ policy of 2010 to allow the public to decide on the future of development spending, rather than maintaining the status quo. Conversely, in order to guar- antee their support in a coalition, a ‘smaller’ party might insist on a strong development agenda with specific targets on spending and programmes being included in any post election manifesto. All parties will, most likely, have to stick to the principles of Michel Moore’s Private Members Bill enshrining the 0.7 per cent spending on aid commitment into law, as revoking the law would require additional Parliamentary scrutiny. (At the time of going to press the Bill is yet to become an Act.) Shadow development minister Mary Creagh has promised to outline Labour’s vision for development and international healthcare in a speech in Cambridge, scheduled for March, whilst we expect policy statements from the other parties to be made but not celebrated or promoted. A 2014 Chatham House-YouGov poll (illustrated below) found that 54 per cent of the UK think the Government spends too much on aid as it is.

This briefing document has been compiled by Chris Fairbank, senior political consultant on the Dods Monitoring team who specialises in international development and foreign affairs.

For further information about the content of this briefing please contact the author at [email protected] or 0207 593 5691.