House of Commons - Sustainable Development in a Changing Climate

Sustainable Development in a Changing Climate - International Development Committee Contents

2 Introduction

DFID's approach to sustainable development and climate change

PROGRESS SINCE 2002

12. In 2002 the previous International Development Committee published a report on Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development.[11] It found that tackling the risks posed by climate change in developing countries was not integrated into poverty reduction strategies. While DFID's policies to reduce poverty and build capacity had helped to reduce vulnerability to climate change, this was an indirect outcome rather than a stated objective. The report recommended, amongst other things, that DFID seek to integrate (or "mainstream") climate change objectives into its work in developing countries. It also noted that climate change and sustainable development were interdependent: any new framework for tackling climate change should aim to ensure that development was sustainable, and that progress towards sustainable development took account of climate change. The report recommended that DFID's policies reflect this necessary interaction.[12]

13. In its response to the report the Government said it was "working hard to ensure that environmental issues are effectively included (mainstreamed) into nationally owned processes of poverty eradication such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers" and that "the most important response to climate change and variability is to build the resilience of communities and their livelihoods to shocks of which climate is just one."[13] DFID believed that its mainstreaming agenda was the best way to bring together the development and climate change agendas.[14]

14. DFID's Departmental Strategic Objectives (DSO) now include promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation and ensuring environmental sustainability as part of its contribution to meeting MDG 7. DFID told us that measures towards achieving this Objective had been incorporated into its programme including:

Initiatives on rural livelihoods, for example in India;
Support for better management of environmental resources such as water, forests, fisheries and land;
Voluntary codes of conduct such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) which helps to ensure greater transparency in the allocation of resources from natural resource extraction.[15]

15. We asked DFID what progress it had made on integrating climate change into its country programmes since 2002. One example DFID provided was its support to Bangladesh to develop a 10 year Climate Change Strategy, which now influenced DFID's development programme in the country.[16] Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world and at severe risk of flooding from climate change. DFID's work there includes constructing houses on raised platforms, building flood and cyclone shelters and providing training on climate resilient livelihoods.[17] DFID told us it had also piloted a climate vulnerability screening process in Bangladesh which would take account of the risks posed by climate change to its projects.[18] Evidence of progress in mainstreaming climate change elsewhere in DFID country programmes was more patchy and the Minister was not able to give us any specific examples of how this had been taken forward with African countries.[19]

16. We are disappointed that DFID could not provide us with more evidence of progress it has made since 2002 towards fully integrating climate change into its poverty alleviation programmes, especially in Africa. DFID's programme in Bangladesh, which seeks to combine climate change and development objectives in practical ways, its pilot climate screening project and its assistance to the government to develop a Climate Change Strategy are steps in the right direction. At present, however, they appear to be one-off projects rather than clear evidence of a mainstreamed approach. We believe that such initiatives should become the norm throughout DFID's country programmes. The Department should be able to demonstrate much more clearly that climate change is informing its policy decisions in all the countries in which it works. We invite the Secretary of State, in responding to this Report, to set out the steps planned to achieve this.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

17. DFID told us that it had a longstanding commitment to the environment and sustainable development. It had "integrated the principles of sustainable development across a broad range of DFID's work including governance and building effective states, conflict prevention, and promoting sustainable growth."[20] This commitment to sustainable development is set out in DFID's Sustainable Development Action Plan which forms part of the Government's Sustainable Development Strategy.[21] The Plan states that DFID will embed sustainable development in all its policies and programmes, balance the economic, social and environmental aspects of its work in-country and ensure that it meets its commitments to UK targets and that developing countries benefit from this.[22]

18. However some have questioned the depth of this commitment. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) told us that DFID was not seen as a lead player on sustainable development, and that it tended to focus on the economic dimensions of sustainable development:

Simon Anderson of IIED explained that DFID's engagement with poverty reduction strategies in developing countries put very little emphasis on the integration of the environmental causes of poverty. However, more positively, one recent DFID initiative with the Government of Tanzania had sought to ensure its Poverty Reduction Strategy took account of environmental concerns.[24] DFID highlighted this initiative in its evidence:

However, this appears to be a one-off initiative. Moreover the Strategy itself makes no mention of climate change adaptation or greenhouse gas emissions.[26]

19. IIED was also sceptical about the contribution made by the UK Sustainable Development Commission, the Government's independent advisory body on sustainable development. We were told that the Commission needed to be more engaged with international development activities, but that DFID had not taken the opportunity to encourage it in this direction.[27] The DFID Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Mike Foster, told us that the Department had limited engagement with the Sustainable Development Commission and that it was largely UK-focused.[28] Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, Minister of State for Sustainable Development and Energy Innovation, believed that the retirement of the current Chair of the Commission might provide an opportunity to reconsider its focus.[29] He undertook to review its work to date and discuss with DFID whether it should have a greater international focus.[30]

20. We support the focus in DFID's Sustainable Development Action Plan on ensuring that sustainability is at the centre of the Department's development work and that development objectives are reflected in both domestic and international sustainability policies and programmes. We were, however, surprised that the Minister was unable to tell us more about how the Plan influenced DFID's work in practice. There is a need for greater coherence across Government on sustainable development. In an increasingly interdependent world DFID needs to work more closely with other Government Departments, particularly Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to increase their awareness of the international dimensions of sustainable development. The UK's Sustainable Development Commission has not been engaged meaningfully in international development issues and could contribute more in this area. It should have an international as well as a domestic focus. We welcome the commitment from the Minister of State for Sustainable Development to review the focus of the Commission. We request that the Government, in its response to this Report, provides an update on progress with this review.

RECENT INITIATIVES

21. Since our predecessors' 2002 report the evidence of climate change has increased significantly. The most recent assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that "warming of our climate system is unequivocal" and that much of this was due to increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from human activity.[31] Lord Stern told us that there was an increasing awareness among policy-makers of the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change.[32] On our visit to Africa we were able to see that climate change was already having an impact on people's lives—changing rainfall patterns, for example, had led to crop failure in parts of Kenya and contributed to a serious food crisis.

22. DFID reports that climate change has caused it to adjust its approach to sustainable development and led to a greater level of cross-Departmental coordination. The objectives of this new approach are: to play a leadership role internationally on climate change negotiations to ensure that any new agreement is "development friendly"; to help protect the most vulnerable from the inevitable impacts of climate change; and to renew its emphasis on environmental management and sustainable development.[33]

23. The main elements of DFID's work towards achieving these objectives are:

Investment of an extra £100 million into research on climate change over the next five years;
"Cascading" climate change objectives through its planning and monitoring tools;
The development of a tool for assessing climate risks to DFID programmes which has been used in four of its country programmes to date;
The establishment of a Climate and Environment Group within its Policy and Research Division and the appointment of 11 new climate advisers in country offices;
Assistance to set up the World Bank-managed Climate Investment Funds (CIF) accompanied by funding of £400 million over 3 years.[34]

In addition DFID told us that it was launching a new initiative within the Department called Making DFID Climate Smart. This would:

These are all recent initiatives and their success has not been reviewed. We will assess their likely impact in this report.

The UNFCCC in Copenhagen

24. DFID's recent initiatives have been adopted in the context of increasing international attention on and efforts to respond to climate change. In December 2009 the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will meet in Copenhagen with the aim of finalising the framework for a new agreement on climate change for the post-2012 period when the existing Kyoto Protocol expires. The Protocol, agreed in 1997, set binding emissions reductions targets for developed countries (referred to as Annex 1 countries) who have a heavier burden of responsibility placed on them under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities." Other signatories do not have mandatory targets.

25. As the evidence of climate change has increased there has been pressure for developed countries to adopt more ambitious emissions reductions targets in any new agreement. The fourth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommended that any further increase in global average temperatures above pre-industrial levels needed to stay well below 2°C to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.[36] To achieve this, atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations must almost certainly be limited below 550 ppm (parts per million; they are currently 384 ppm).[37]

26. This would mean that global greenhouse gas emissions, which are currently rising at around 1% per year, would need to peak by 2015 and then be reduced by 80% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.[38] This emissions reduction scenario would require developed countries to reduce emissions by 25-40% by 2020 and 80-95% by 2050. Developing countries will have to emit less than they might otherwise have done (although emissions in the rapidly industrialising countries, particularly China, will continue to rise sharply in the shorter term before they start to fall). Even so, reducing emissions by these amounts will provide only a 50% chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. Building in greater certainty would require more stringent and earlier reductions.

27. The UK's Climate Change Act received Royal Assent in November 2008. It sets out a framework for the UK "to achieve its long-term goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to ensure steps are taken towards adapting to the impacts of climate change." The long term target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% against 1990 levels by 2050.[39] The 2009 Budget committed the UK to 34% cuts by 2020. The Government said that the targets would rise by an unspecified amount if there is a "satisfactory" global agreement on climate change at Copenhagen.[40] The 34% target is in line with recommendations made by the UK Committee on Climate Change although it falls short of the Committee's suggested rise to 42% if there is a successful agreement in Copenhagen.[41] The EU has agreed to cut its overall emissions by 20% by 2020 and to increase this to 30% subject to commitments from other developed countries in an international agreement.[42] The US has so far committed to return its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.[43] Congress will shortly consider a draft climate bill which includes a provision to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17% against 2005 levels by 2020.[44]

28. Many of the impacts of climate change could be reduced by strong mitigation efforts. Conversely, delayed or lesser emission reductions will significantly constrain the opportunities to achieve lower stabilisation levels and increase the risk of more severe climate change impacts. As DFID notes, "a failure to achieve an ambitious goal would be a terrible outcome for developing countries: a significant rise in temperatures would lead to even greater costs in terms of adaptation."[45] Thus agreement on mitigation targets is directly linked to adaptation in developing countries—greater mitigation ensures adaptation could be effective; if mitigation targets are too weak, the impacts of climate change are likely to be very expensive.

29. The UNFCCC Copenhagen conference will also discuss: measures, including funding, to help developing countries adapt to climate change; developing country mitigation actions including avoided deforestation; and assistance with technology. The meeting in Copenhagen is thus a significant one for the UK Government and the international community. We are encouraged by the Government's strong position on emissions reductions adopted in the lead-up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in December. We believe that this will provide greater leverage in encouraging other industrialised countries to make similar commitments. It is, however, critically important that the UK makes progress towards meeting its own targets. Failure to do so risks not only dangerous climate change but might well also undermine global resolve to tackle the problem.

30. DFID has said that one of its priorities is to play a leadership role in international climate change negotiations and to ensure that any new agreement is "development friendly."[46] The Department also has a role to play in encouraging developing countries to reduce their emissions levels. We will discuss the UK Government's objectives for the Copenhagen conference in chapter 6.

11 Third Report of Session 2001-02, Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development, HC 519 Back

12 Third Report of Session 2001-02, Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development, HC 519, para 99 Back

13 Fourth Special Report of Session 2001-02, Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Government Response to the Committee's Third Report of Session 2001-02, HC 1270 Back

14 Ibid para 7.1 Back

15 Ev 73, 74 Back

16 Ev 87 Back

17 Ev 87; Q 224 Back

18 Ev 87; Q 226. DFID already carries out environmental screening on all projects over £1 million. Back

19 Q 226 Back

20 Ev 72 Back

21 Ev 73 Back

22 DFID, 2007/08 Sustainable Development Action Plan, June 2007 Back