Speeches by Law.

“Minister, coming back to Monica Harding’s point about the UK’s assets at work in developing countries, does it not concern you that it is not more front of mind for the FCDO during this shift from donor to investor that those are the British public’s assets at work, and they will not just disappear off into the ether—w…”

“We would certainly like to hear more about the Ethiopian example, if you would be able to write to us. Coming to the ethics of this, private finance is not subject to the same safeguards as public spending—we have very strong safeguards in place for a lot of our development finance institutions—which can worsen inequal…”

“Very briefly, if we are doing that and communicating it better, even if we are not recouping the capital, if it does remain in place, remains at work and grows over time, is there not a case that that potentially reduces our obligation to spend in future years? Do you find that a compelling argument to make to the publ…”

“It is great to hear your reflections on the polling work you have done. Given our shift from donor to investor, in your experience do the public even know that Britain is an investor in development and climate finance and not just a donor?”

“Thank you for that clarification—it is about sovereign lending.”

“It is great to hear your reflections on the polling work you have done. Given our shift from donor to investor, in your experience do the public even know that Britain is an investor in development and climate finance and not just a donor?”

“You have sort of answered my next question, which was about how we get better collaboration among some of those climate finance tools, but could you give a few more practical examples? We know that BII and UKEF will be delivering the lion’s share of climate finance—I do not know if you would call it that. Could you giv…”

“Can I push you a bit further? Speaking candidly, I think you are probably the first person I have ever heard describe the African Development bank as dynamic, but that is very heartening to hear. On that trade-off between multilateral and bilateral investment, I totally hear what you are saying about our negotiating le…”

“In the light of the ODA cuts, have there been any attempts to shift that proportion even further so that even more non-ODA sources contribute to the £11.6 billion, to free up ODA for other uses?”

“Thank you for the clarification. We have heard that private finance is not a panacea, obviously, so what is the FCDO’s assessment of the risks of depending on that private capital to meet the UK’s climate finance needs?”

“That is something we have heard from a lot of witnesses in this inquiry. You mentioned that you try to manage that risk, but are there any guardrails that you use to ensure that you get sufficient private capital mobilisation? For instance, there will be a mobilisation ratio required at the BII level, but how much do t…”

“We would certainly like to hear more about the Ethiopian example, if you would be able to write to us. Coming to the ethics of this, private finance is not subject to the same safeguards as public spending—we have very strong safeguards in place for a lot of our development finance institutions—which can worsen inequal…”

“Can I push you a bit further? Speaking candidly, I think you are probably the first person I have ever heard describe the African Development bank as dynamic, but that is very heartening to hear. On that trade-off between multilateral and bilateral investment, I totally hear what you are saying about our negotiating le…”

“Very briefly, if we are doing that and communicating it better, even if we are not recouping the capital, if it does remain in place, remains at work and grows over time, is there not a case that that potentially reduces our obligation to spend in future years? Do you find that a compelling argument to make to the publ…”

“Perhaps a clarification from officials is best on this question anyway. The figure of £6.7 billion of mobilisation was mentioned. Is that aligned with our £11.6 billion climate finance commitment? Are those two equivalent? If so, it strikes me as a rather low mobilisation ratio.”

“Thank you for the clarification. We have heard that private finance is not a panacea, obviously, so what is the FCDO’s assessment of the risks of depending on that private capital to meet the UK’s climate finance needs?”

“Thank you for that clarification—it is about sovereign lending.”

“Ian, you said that the UK’s participation in multilateral development banks is able to deliver financing that we are simply not able to deliver through bilateral channels. Can you expand on that and explain what you mean?”

“Ian, you said that the UK’s participation in multilateral development banks is able to deliver financing that we are simply not able to deliver through bilateral channels. Can you expand on that and explain what you mean?”

“Minister, coming back to Monica Harding’s point about the UK’s assets at work in developing countries, does it not concern you that it is not more front of mind for the FCDO during this shift from donor to investor that those are the British public’s assets at work, and they will not just disappear off into the ether—w…”