09:53 Annette Brooke (Mid-Dorset and North Poole) (LD)

Finally—this was meant to be a brief contribution—the all-party group is taking a particular interest in the wider issue of micro-insurance. We have always been keen on insuring for weddings, funerals and other events, but we need to consider micro-insurance on the larger scale, as part of our adaptation to climate change. It is a really important future agenda. We have raised questions with the Minister before, but it would be interesting to have an update on his view of DFID’s position on the matter. Clearly, we cannot predict natural disasters, nor where or when climate change will have an impact. Having an international fund that ties in with micro-insurance would be of enormous benefit.

A lot of groundwork is needed, particularly with agriculture, working with farmers not only in Africa but globally. Supporting micro-insurance in countries that may be particularly affected by climate change is really important.

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22:09 Mr. Michael Moore (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (LD)

I am delighted to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke). Moreover, I wish to congratulate the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Field) on securing this debate and on introducing it in such a comprehensive and measured way. He is right to address the debate that exists in the country about why we contribute so much to international development—I know that some argue that we are not doing enough, but that is part of the wider debate. I was pleased, too, to hear him explore the impact that microfinance can have in this country. The hon. Gentleman raised some broader points about international development, including this poor-countries-versus-poor-people argument about where we should target our assistance, particularly in the context of India and China. I appreciate that it is legitimate to explore such an area in the widest terms, but if we use, for example, the poverty of the country as a whole, we can quickly find other reasons, such as human rights records and behavioural patterns of Governments, to remove such countries from the equation as far as international development is concerned. We should therefore concentrate on the alleviation of poverty for the people rather than focusing on the country exclusively. In countries such as China, though, we should consider what the Department for International Development is doing, because important technical assistance work on climate change is under way. It is a two-way street in which we are learning from them and they are learning from us. Although we need to critically evaluate such important work, we should also continue to support it.

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10:38 Gareth Thomas (Labour)

I will now respond to some of the specific points that other hon. Members have made. The hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole, who usually chairs the all-party group that I mentioned, highlighted the important contribution that microfinance can make to the achievement of the millennium development goals, and I completely agree with her point. If we want to achieve the principal millennium development goal of halving the number of people living on less than a dollar a day, we must substantially increase access to financial services. Microfinance has a key role to play in that. She also made an important point about micro-insurance. That is one small part of helping communities and the world’s poorest to be better able to withstand the rising impact of climate change globally, and that is one of the areas that we are working on.

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