Draft Global Green Growth Institute (Legal Capacity) Order 2013
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
† Ali, Rushanara (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)
Campbell, Mr Gregory (East Londonderry) (DUP)
† Dowd, Jim (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)
† Duddridge, James (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)
† Ellis, Michael (Northampton North) (Con)
† Eustice, George (Camborne and Redruth) (Con)
Evans, Graham (Weaver Vale) (Con)
† Featherstone, Lynne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development)
† Hemming, John (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD)
† Hillier, Meg (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
† Hilling, Julie (Bolton West) (Lab)
† Kaufman, Sir Gerald (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)
† Lancaster, Mark (Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury)
† McCartney, Karl (Lincoln) (Con)
† Macleod, Mary (Brentford and Isleworth) (Con)
Mactaggart, Fiona (Slough) (Lab)
Mitchell, Austin (Great Grimsby) (Lab)
† Tomlinson, Justin (North Swindon) (Con)
Farrah Bhatti, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
Eleventh Delegated Legislation Committee
Thursday 14 March 2013
[Mr Mike Weir in the Chair]
Draft Global Green Growth Institute (Legal Capacities) Order 2013
11.30 am
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Lynne Featherstone): I beg to move
That the Committee has considered the draft Global Green Growth Institute (Legal Capacities) Order 2013.
The order was laid before the House on 29 January. First, may I say what a great pleasure it is, Mr Weir, to serve under your chairmanship?
There has been no poverty reduction at scale without strong sustained economic growth. The sustainability of current growth models is, however, a concern. Economic growth relies on environmental resources, but has often driven their depletion. Green growth seeks actions that simultaneously improve both growth and the environment. As the Deputy Prime Minister has said:
“Our dilemma is not choosing between green and growth. It’s marrying the two.”
The Global Green Growth Institute was established in 2010 to advance the practice and theory of green growth. It hopes to work with a critical mass of countries to explore the potential of green growth and, through demonstrating that potential, act as a transformational catalyst for change. The institute’s focus is on helping to prepare economic development strategies in countries that have requested assistance, and to help to implement those strategies, so that good ideas become actions. The UK has been a keen supporter of the institute, and was a founding member of it, with the Deputy Prime Minister representing the UK at the agreement of its establishment in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.
The International Organisations Act 1968 allows us to grant legal capacity to international organisations by making an Order in Council. Legal capacity is important because it enables organisations to exist legally in the UK, allowing them to enter into contracts, to be sued and to sue. It would be difficult for an international organisation that wants to function in the UK, such as the GGGI, to do business without legal capacity. Such an order requires debate in both Houses because orders under the Act can be used to grant a wide range of privileges and immunities, including tax exemptions and immunity from jurisdiction, which we have granted to a number of organisations, such as UN bodies and the World Bank. The order does not grant any of those additional privileges, and if the GGGI wanted any in future, a further Order-in-Council debate would be required.
Her Majesty’s Government fully support all the proposed changes. We firmly believe that the Global Green Growth Institute will help to create a new model of environmentally sustainable economic growth. I commend the order to the Committee.
11.32 am
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab): It is a pleasure, Mr Weir, to serve under your chairmanship. The Global Green Growth Institute was set up in Korea in June 2010. Sixteen countries were founding members, and I am proud that the United Kingdom was one of them. As the Minister says, it is an international organisation that aims to create a new model of environmentally sustainable growth. Membership will allow the UK to continue to play an active role in promoting sustainable development in developing and emerging economies.
As the world moves through the 21st century, an international policy challenge that will be at the forefront of global concern and discussion will be how to reconcile the world’s need for further economic growth with its need for sustainable green economics while taking care of the environment. Developing countries are at the forefront in facing the catastrophic consequences if we do not get the issues right and do not have sustainable economic growth.
The GGGI is focusing on developing countries that want policy advice on how to pursue more sustainable economic growth. We have a lot to learn from that here at home and need to ensure that developing countries receive the support they need. Crucially, the institute will have a key role in looking at how countries can use resources more efficiently to address environmental challenges such as climate change. It is crucial to build an investment case that can help to attract the necessary resources to translate the GGGI’s policies into reality.
I want to say a few words about what the previous Government did on the climate change agenda, which is crucially linked to the role of the institute. We focused and led the way on climate change and sustainability. In November 2008, we introduced the world’s first Climate Change Act, making the UK the first country to have legally binding long-term frameworks for tackling climate change and focusing on the reduction of our emissions. We also developed a system of carbon budgets, as proposed by the Independent Committee on Climate Change, to ensure that we were on the right trajectory to meet the targets.
It is important to emphasise the role that the UK plays in tackling climate change and green emissions. We work with our developing country partners through organisations such as the institute to ensure that we work together in partnership, learn lessons and share best practice, including on innovation and technology.
On the role of the institute, it is crucial that we provide the necessary support, including granting the GGGI legal status in the UK. As the Minister has said, legal capacity allows the organisation to carry out its work effectively. I hope it can provide the necessary support to help emerging economies to meet the obligations set out in the framework of activities in the coming years. We support granting the GGGI legal capacity in the UK.
11.37 am
Lynne Featherstone: Important points have been raised and I welcome the Committee’s interest in the Global Green Growth Institute and green growth more widely. The Department for International Development is already doing a wide range of things to promote green growth across the world. As the hon. Lady has said, the agenda
is really important. Through our investment in the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services programme, we are helping Governments to move beyond a narrow understanding of wealth. The programme allows them capture the value of their natural resources, from forests to marine life, in their national data, which allows for better investment in policy decisions.The coalition Government are determined to support that across the world. We are providing a range of advice on green growth to a number of economies, such as our support for the Ethiopian green growth strategy,
and we are helping Governments, communities and businesses to build resilience to climate change, which is one of the greatest threats to development in this world of natural resource scarcity.The United Kingdom has deep commitments to both development and green policies. We are keen to work with the GGGI to ensure that it helps to deliver the future we want. I commend the order to the Committee.