Ed Miliband updates Committee on UK’s COP30 activity
Energy and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband will appear before the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee next Monday, after leading the UK’s delegation at the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil.
In the high-level text produced from the conference, countries re-committed to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, parties did not agree to deliver a ‘roadmap’ away from fossil fuels, which had been supported by 86 countries, including the UK. The Secretary of State said the UK would continue to work with Brazil on delivering the roadmap outside official negotiations.
The Committee had recommended the UK announce a contribution at COP30 to the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) a Brazil-led initiative using the returns from bond investments to incentivise forest conservation.
However, despite helping to design the mechanism, the UK made no such commitment. Mr Miliband told the House of Commons that this was due to fiscal circumstances in the UK, and that the Government would keep its decision under review. The UK also made no new international climate finance commitment either at COP30 or in the November Budget, saying only that further announcements on this would be made over the coming months.
Meeting details
Topics MPs are likely to discuss with the Secretary of State include:
- Under what circumstances the Government would commit new money to the TFFF, and whether not doing so could undermine UK leadership
- When the Government will announce details of the UK’s climate finance commitments from next Spring
- How the Secretary of State is driving climate action across Government
- How the UK can ensure a just transition to net zero, and support workers whose jobs are threatened
- The Government’s climate and nature priorities between now and COP31