Speeches by Champion.

“You have made me more nervous about this. It sounds as though your bit of the money is going to the lower middle. Ros, is there a specific ringfence for the lowest income countries?”

“Does that pull you away from African countries, which historically have had the lowest impact?”

“Matt, I think these questions are for you, but if not, please pass them over. What discussions has the FCDO had around ringfencing grant funding for low-income countries? There seems to be an assumption that private investment will flood in, but for low-income countries and the projects that they are likely to host, th…”

“When it comes to climate finance, how do you capture data on women and girls, and on how we are helping, supporting and mitigating?”

“Ros, apologies if I missed this. On women and girls specifically, how much conversation, co-ordination and leverage do you have over the other FCDO programmes? The climate impact does not happen in isolation.”

“Would expanding the team help?”

“Do people say that that perceived increase in spending is a really good thing or a really bad thing?”

“We have always been very impressed with our teams at the World Bank and in other multilaterals. With the staffing changes going on, what are you doing to protect and maybe even increase those teams so that they have more influence? Can you give us an example where we have been able to amplify the voice of a low-income …”

“The Committee met a lot of people working in this field in Indonesia, and they all said, “People in the UK like protecting animals.” What they meant was that protecting the orangutans in Borneo is more sellable than protecting the forests that the orangutans need to survive. Is that your understanding of where the publ…”

“The Committee met a lot of people working in this field in Indonesia, and they all said, “People in the UK like protecting animals.” What they meant was that protecting the orangutans in Borneo is more sellable than protecting the forests that the orangutans need to survive. Is that your understanding of where the publ…”

“Do people say that that perceived increase in spending is a really good thing or a really bad thing?”

“Finally from me, the Minister talked about the cohesion that is now found across Departments and FCDO on climate finance. Do you recognise that?”

“Matt, you were nodding.”

“One of my frustrations as we have been doing this inquiry is that the Government seem—understandably—to go where Governments say there are the worst areas or the worst need, but that might not always match up to where local people think the money would be best spent. Do you have a way, in your two Departments, of getti…”

“This Committee has a slightly different perspective, because we tend to start with the global and reflect it back on the UK. What does the international climate world think about the UK’s position right now? Are we doing enough? Are we pulling our weight?”

“The Minister was telling us how we are the global leader in this area. If we hit a 20-year low, what impact will that have on the confidence of other donor countries?”

“The Minister was telling us how we are the global leader in this area. If we hit a 20-year low, what impact will that have on the confidence of other donor countries?”

“This Committee has a slightly different perspective, because we tend to start with the global and reflect it back on the UK. What does the international climate world think about the UK’s position right now? Are we doing enough? Are we pulling our weight?”

“Ian, the FCDO published its climate finance strategy last week. What do you think of it?”

“We have been told that the FCDO had plans to complete a learning synthesis of the previous round of climate finance, which would be due by April 2026. Did that happen, and if so, can we have a copy?”