Wednesday Volume 678 15 July 2020 No. 87 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday 15 July 2020 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2020 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 1499 15 JULY 2020 1500 Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab): Thank you, House of Commons Mr Speaker. The Minister may talk the talk, but the hypocrisy is staggering. His Government continue to Wednesday 15 July 2020 funnel billions into fossil fuel projects, including £1 billion in Mozambique. Their own impact assessment is damning, saying that it would lead to permanent loss of natural The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock resources, food scarcity and displacement, undoing the very resilience that DFID aid is there to help build. PRAYERS Does he agree that this flies in the face of climate justice and undermines the very people it is his job to protect? [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] James Cleverly: I welcome the hon. Lady to her place. Virtual participation in proceedings commenced (Order, This Government are absolutely committed to ensuring 4 June). that we build back better, protect the environment and [NB: [V] denotes a Member participating virtually.] protect the most vulnerable people in the world. Last year, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would provide £1.44 billion over the next four years to the Oral Answers to Questions green climate fund, doubling our commitment to the largest international fund dedicated to supporting developing countries to adopt low-carbon, climate-resilient technologies. That makes the UK the largest single INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT contributor in the world to that fund. The Secretary of State was asked— Returning to Education after Covid-19 Climate Justice: ODA Allocation Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con): What steps her Department is taking to help children in Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab): What steps her Department developing countries return to education after the covid-19 is taking to prioritise climate justice in the allocation of pandemic. [904775] official development assistance to developing countries recovering from the effect of the covid-19 pandemic. The Secretary of State for International Development [904774] (Anne-Marie Trevelyan): The UK is committed to ensuring a safe return to school for children all around the world. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa We are taking decisive action through our education (James Cleverly): Next year, the United Kingdom will programmes and will throw our diplomatic and proudly host COP26—a clear demonstration of the development weight behind global efforts, including the UK’s commitment to tackling climate change and our UNICEF-led campaign to support children’s return to desire to secure global action. Development and diplomacy school. On Monday, we announced £5.3 million of new together will be integral to our work. We recognise that funding to the United Nations High Commissioner for there are few global threats more serious than climate Refugees to enable over 5,000 teachers to provide education change, and its impact will hit the poorest and most in 10 refugee hosting countries. vulnerable hardest. It is vital that we build back better from covid-19. We are prioritising activity that delivers Sir David Evennett [V]: I thank my right hon. Friend clean, resilient, inclusive recovery, and the Government for her response and commend the work that she is are committed to that task. doing in the Department. How will the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office assist the Global Liz Twist: One of the greatest achievements of our Partnership for Education replenishment next year? overseas development aid programme has been working towards improving the position of women, but biodiversity loss has laid extra burdens on women, who, for example, Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK is proud to be the have to walk further for fresh food or water. What steps largest bilateral donor to the Global Partnership for will the Minister take to mitigate biodiversity loss in Education, with a commitment of up to £225 million developing countries and reduce the burden on women? over a three-year period. As a major education multilateral, it has a key role in tackling the global learning crisis. James Cleverly: The hon. Lady makes an incredibly That is more crucial than ever given the covid pandemic, important and accurate point. The fact that my noble Friend which is having a profound effect on education systems Lord Goldsmith is a Minister across the Department across the world. The GPE is flexing about £400 million for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department to support education stability, and the UK is keen to for International Development and the Foreign and play an active part in the 2021 replenishment. We are Commonwealth Office shows the integrated approach presently exploring the possibility of how we could that this Government take. Our work on development, co-host that replenishment our diplomatic work and our work to protect biodiversity and the environment all work together to ensure that Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab) [V]: IMC Worldwide women and other people who are vulnerable are not hit was commissioned by DFID to build 31,000 classrooms harder by changes to our climate. in Pakistan for a fee of £107 million. It renegotiated to only build a fifth but kept 58% of the initial fee. The Mr Speaker: I welcome to the Dispatch Box shadow majority of the classrooms built were substandard and Minister Anna McMorrin. presented a risk to children. By October last year, only a 1501 Oral Answers 15 JULY 2020 Oral Answers 1502 quarter had been retrofitted. Will the Secretary of State The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for put the two DFID reviews into what went wrong in the International Development (Wendy Morton): The transition public domain? Why is the same classroom design being to sustainable agriculture is critical to achieving food- used in other countries? Were any children hurt, and security, nutrition and climate objectives. Wehave ensured when can they go back to school? that the UK is taking a leadership role through its hosting of COP26 and our support for several bilateral Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The safety of children will always andmultilateralinitiativespromotingsustainableagriculture. be our No. 1 priority, and I agree that it is completely That support includes £176 million invested in the unacceptable that children were being taught in tents global agriculture and food security programme, which because buildings funded by UK aid were not being built directly addresses climate change through the use of to the necessary standards. As soon as DFID knew that mitigation and adaptation technologies such as resilient there was a problem, we took urgent action to ensure seed varieties, more efficient irrigation and increased that all schools knew that the buildings should not be intercropping. used, while we worked with the contractor to agree a plan for retrofitting the affected buildings. Covid has Theresa Villiers: Protecting the rainforest in Brazil is caused some delays to that progress, and schools are crucial for our climate and biodiversity goals, so will the closed until 15 September, but I understand that the MinisterensurethatUKaidsupportssustainableagriculture first of the buildings will be handed over shortly, in a in Brazil so that we prevent deforestation and ensure state that is considered acceptable. Global education stable and prosperous communities? continues to be an absolutely key priority for the Government and, whether in Pakistan or elsewhere, we Wendy Morton: My right hon. Friend makes an are working hard to get children back to school. important point. As she will appreciate and understand, rain forests are the world’slungs. Through the Partnerships Rohingya in Bangladesh and Myanmar for Forests programme, the UK supports sustainable agriculture in Brazil, including through support to address Paul Bristow (Peterborough) (Con): What steps her deforestation caused by cattle ranching in the Amazon Department is taking to support the Rohingya in (a) region, as well as through measures to eliminate from Bangladesh and (b) Myanmar. [904776] the supply chain cattle produced on illegally deforested land. The UK also supports sustainable agriculture in The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams): The UK the soya-producing region of Cerrado. Government are committed to protecting the Rohingya. I thank Bangladesh for its kindness towards vulnerable Poverty Reduction: ODA Rohingya refugees. I recently visited—virtually—Rakhine in Myanmar, where the UK has provided more than £44 million to all communities since 2017, including Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab): Whether more than £25 million for the Rohingya. In Bangladesh, poverty reduction will remain the primary focus of we have provided £256 million for the Rohingya response Official Development Assistance. [904778] since 2017, including support for food, health and women and girls. The Secretary of State for International Development (Anne-Marie Trevelyan): As my right hon. Friend the Paul Bristow: In Peterborough, the excellent charity Prime Minister has said, the work of the UK to reduce Unite 4 Humanity has been raising money for the poverty remains central to the objectives of this Rohingya Crisis Appeal and working with those on the Government. The way we use ODA will continue to be ground in