Tag: Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2024 Speech at Asia House Annual Outlook

The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister for the Indo-Pacific, at Asia House in London on 23 January 2024.

It is a real pleasure to be here again for the launch, gosh in a blink of an eye isn’t it, the 2024 Outlook. And it really doesn’t seem like a year since I was standing at this lectern, predicting I think as I was, ‘months of change ahead’. But I wasn’t entirely wrong because it has indeed been a busy year and an awful lot has happened.

Now we did know even then that we were going to be looking at an unpredictable year, but I’m not sure that any of us would have anticipated the scale of events that has impacted economies over the last year, from the continuing challenges around climate change, to cybersecurity, from the conflicts in Ukraine which continue to create huge strains and of course in Gaza, US-China competition, the really substantial impacts we’re seeing through BRICS expansion and of course the Saudi-Iran deal.

And not wishing to be a predicter I think 2024 is probably going to be equally unpredictable. As you mentioned we have got elections in 60 countries, over 2 billion people going to the polls. Which is an extraordinary thing when you think about that sort of voice being spoken from citizens across the world. It is actually a global first – from Bangladesh and Taiwan in the last few weeks to India, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka… our own UK general election at some point, I can give you no insider information, and of course at the end of the year the USA’s Presidential election.

So I think Lord Green is right to talk about ‘turbulence’ in the coming year. But there will be 2 things that will remain consistent in 2024. One of those is Asian growth, and the other one is the UK’s commitment to be at the heart of that.

So we’re going to be continuing to seek those deeper partnerships with all these amazing countries across the Indo-Pacific, and with the regional network in partnership with ASEAN, the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), amongst others.

I had the great pleasure to attend the IORA Ministerial in Colombo in October last year, and indeed the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands in November. I spend a lot of time on planes these days, some of which work better than others. I think what I’ve heard time and again from my counterparts, in spite of their very diverse interests, was a desire for the kind of stable world order that will support economic growth and genuinely allow sustainable development. Because that stable world order in which we can all win that race for climate security, and of course the health security. And a stable world order that gets that prosperity that every country needs back on track.

Now the Foreign Secretary has called this an ‘age of insecurity’, and that insecurity can fan out both by land and by sea. And of course the recent situations in the Red Sea are a blunt reminder of what that looks like.

Something that became particularly stark in 2023 is that Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security are clearly inseparable. Understanding that, and for that reason, that’s why the UK and so many of our partners want to be part of sustaining a free and open Indo-Pacific. Simply put, it is in our interests for the Indo-Pacific to be secure and stable. And it is in the interests of the region’s people to build a free, fair future, where top quality trade rules are respected, trade routes can stay open, data and energies can flow freely, and countries have free choices.

So the UK’s deployment of HMS Diamond in support of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an international taskforce to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is perhaps a clear example of the UK’s intent. On maritime security, I’m looking forward to continuing engagement with the AUKUS partnership this year, as well as working with some key Indo-Pacific partners to assure global waters are safer for everyone.

The UK knows that security and trade will form a virtuous circle in our relationships throughout Asia. In 2023 we saw a number of notable successes for this approach, as we signed our Accession Protocol to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership – CPTPP – that was in July. Now joining CPTPP is going to give UK businesses an extraordinarily exciting enhanced access to the Malaysian market for the first time, and it puts the UK at the heart of a dynamic group of free trading countries, which are in the right place, and at the right time.

And we of course have our Free Trade Agreements with Australia and New Zealand came into force last year, with an expectation to increase bilateral trade by 53 and 59% respectively over the long term.

And in May we announced the expansion of British International Investments (BII as it’s known) to the Indo-Pacific, which is going to invest up to £500 million of climate finance. And we’ve also agreed the UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework MoU.

These are pillars if you like in the UK’s continuing growth and development of that commitment to the Indo-Pacific. More widely in support of regional security and stability, we’ve agreed a Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan in January last year. The UK is the first European country to agree an RAA with Japan, which is enabling both countries to undertake longer, larger, more frequent and more complex joint exercising. And we are also sharing our cutting edge technology through the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP for short), to strengthen our deterrence and defence and the signing of the GCAP treaty with Japan and Italy in December was a really important milestone for that.

We’ve also been strengthening important bilateral relationships, with a new Strategic Partnership with Singapore, and the Downing Street Accord with the Republic of Korea. The Downing Street Accord commits both sides to deeper cooperation on defence and security, on trade and investment, on science and technology and on wider global issues together.

Now all of these relationships require a degree of trust. Trust that there are certain rules of engagement that the parties agree to follow. 2023 saw an important moment in this regard, as the UK, China and 27 other countries signed the Bletchley Declaration at the AI Safety Summit, to voice our mutual concern at the dangers of unfettered AI development, and to work together on safety research. This work is a cornerstone of the UK’s leadership in digital transformation, as we carve out our role in a new technical world this year.

2023 also saw publication of the UK Government’s Integrated Review Refresh, which set out the UK’s approach to global threats more widely, as well as our approach to the UK-China relationship. As Permanent Members of the UN Security Council together, each with a powerful global reach, the UK’s relationship with China has enormous potential to overcome some of the greatest global challenges together. So I welcomed China’s attendance at the AI Summit and also the UK-China engagement on climate change at COP28.

The COVID pandemic taught us that it is prudent to reduce dependencies in our critical supply chains, but we do believe that a positive trade and investment relationship with China is also critically important for both our countries’ interests. So we must maintain open channels to discuss all areas of our relationship, including where we have concerns. That includes the deterioration of freedoms in Hong Kong and the need to preserve peace in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. These are matters of global interest. And so following Taiwan’s recent elections, I hope that those on both sides of the Strait will renew efforts to resolve differences through constructive dialogue. It is important that engagement between the UK and China continues to grow throughout 2024, and I am very pleased to be joined here today by our esteemed colleague, His Excellency.

Looking to the opportunities to come, Outlook 2024 rightly notes the importance of digital transformation to support economic growth. We know that AI and other critical technologies have the potential to transform our societies and improve the lives of millions. So we will build on the AI Safety Summit and continue to spur collective international action to navigate both the opportunities and the risks of this new frontier. We seek to ensure public safety, to drive commercial benefits and to promote values in line with our democratic ideals, assisting businesses in the process.

On trade, we’ve continued negotiations on our UK-India Free Trade Agreement: a deal to boost our current trading relationship, already worth £38 billion, and we are working to upgrade the UK-Korea FTA as announced during the recent State Visit, to enhance our existing £18 billion trade relationship with South Korea.

And of course, our ambition is to complete the required domestic procedures to join CPTPP as soon as possible, with the aim of completing that in the second half of this year. This is all before we mention the long-term benefits that membership of CPTPP presents for the UK: that stronger voice to shape global standards in areas like digital trade, more resilience and security in our supply chains, and more opportunities for jobs and growth right across the UK.

And as Asia House correctly foresees, this will likely be a turbulent year. Therefore, 2024 also needs to be a year of patient diplomacy, as we continue to put in place these long term frameworks that will build the range of partnerships required to protect UK prosperity and security and to support global efforts to tackle those shared challenges. Whether those frameworks are FTAs, defence and security arrangements or innovative approaches to mitigating the impacts of climate change.

So it is my great honour, as Minister for the Indo-Pacific, and our superb team of Ambassadors and High Commissioners around the world, to understand our partners’ priorities and to respond to them and work with you. We will encourage and work with our brilliant businesses, our investors, our entrepreneurs and their counterparts across the region to maximise these opportunities, for 2024, and for the long-term. Thank you.

January 24, 2024
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech to the Western Australia Defence Conference
The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Foreign Office Minister, in Perth, Australia on 8 December 2023.

Thank you, Rebecca, for your kind introduction.

Firstly, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Whadjuk Noongar people, and I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and future.

I am delighted to join you all today – my fourth trip to Australia this year, and my third to Perth.

It is not just the beauty of this vibrant city, your family of black swans on the river, or your wonderful climate, that keep bringing me back. Although my friend Stephen Smith, Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK and fiercely proud former Federal Member for Perth, often teases me that it is!

The reason I keep coming back is Perth’s significance to AUKUS as the future home of Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet. And, as you welcomed USS North Carolina into port in August, it was clear for all to see that the ‘Optimal Pathway’ is now underway.

The Royal Navy is looking forward to joining our American navy colleagues here more frequently from 2026, as our fleet of Astute class nuclear-powered submarines visits regularly, to strengthen our naval partnership to protect the region’s freedom of navigation across Indo-Pacific waters.

Your recent visitor USS North Carolina was a demonstration of the continuing steps forward in the long journey towards SSN-AUKUS become reality.

So what was the rationale for AUKUS?

AUKUS is a security partnership of global significance.

Events in Israel and Gaza, and Russia’s continuing attack against Ukraine, remind us how events far from our shores reverberate at home, with implications for our security, our economy, and our society.

The UK government is under no illusion about the risks to global economic security if stability in the Indo-Pacific is shattered.

As an island nation and a global trading power, like Australia, the UK depends on open shipping routes and unimpeded sea lanes.

Free flows of trade, energy and data – above and below the surface – must be our continuing focus. Because the security of Indo-Pacific waters has a direct impact on my constituents in Northumberland as well as households across the UK and around the world.

That is why we recommitted our support to a free and open Indo-Pacific in our foreign and defence policy refresh.

AUKUS is the UK’s biggest investment in the stability of the Indo-Pacific, and broader global security, for half a century.

Its positive impact will be felt in the region, in our relationships with two of our oldest and closest allies – but also across defence, industry and academia in all three partner countries.

That is why I, and the UK Government, will do all we can to support you, bringing UK industrial and academic expertise honed over 60 years.

Taking on a nuclear-powered fleet is an enormous endeavour, and Western Australia is critical to delivering the availability and sustainment of this new generation of submarines for the Australian Navy, the workforce to support them and the infrastructure to underpin their requirements.

On each of my visits over the last year, I have met with critical stakeholders. And I am excited to say that on this visit I am really starting to feel the momentum picking up on real partnership building and the investment picture needed.

During this visit, I have met with leaders from Defence West, the Australian Submarine Agency, and Curtin University’s new AUKUS Workforce Alliance.

We have hosted Western Australian leaders in the UK, including the Honourable Paul Papalia, to share our knowledge and discuss the most effective relationships which can help you build this new, hugely complex, enterprise with the help of our experienced industrial enterprise.

And, of course, AUKUS isn’t only about submarines.

I’ve seen for myself the expertise and advanced capabilities within Western Australia’s defence sector.

From cyber to AI to remote operations, this region is well-positioned to do well from AUKUS Pillar Two. And from increasing collaboration with your UK and US counterparts.

Last week, AUKUS Defence Ministers made a series of major announcements on Pillar Two that will build our mutual deterrence posture to make us stronger and create lots of opportunities for our defence industries.

Joint exercises will continue to improve our ability to offset an opponent’s advantage, and increase the sophistication and impact of our autonomous naval systems.

We will accelerate the development of quantum technologies for positioning, navigation, and timing in military capabilities. This will bolster the resilience of our forces in the most challenging environments, and enhance stealth in undersea capabilities, which will also support SSN-AUKUS.

We will collaborate on the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability programme, which will use sites in all three countries to help identify emerging threats in space.

And finally, we are working on cyber security with critical suppliers to the naval supply chain, which will give us greater insight into the threats to AUKUS and how to address them.

The progress we are making proves that pooling resources and expertise, and focussing on interoperability, makes us stronger than we ever could be alone in tackling the present geopolitical strains.

The delivery of AUKUS

AUKUS has global significance. But its impacts are also in our local communities. AUKUS will be delivered by Australian, British, and American workers, civilian and uniformed. It will create and sustain thousands of jobs, and boost and regenerate industrial heartlands.

The submarine enterprise – Pillar 1 – will bring together world-leading British design, with the very best technology, skills and industrial heft from all three partners.

In the UK we have now committed £4bn of contracts to design and manufacture the first components for SSN-AUKUS. Rolls Royce is expanding its nuclear reactor manufacturing site in Derby, and BAe Systems is working with the town of Barrow to expand its site and skills. Babcock is continuing to invest in modernising their delivery of submarine sustainment and maintenance, which you will want to tap into in order to save time re-inventing the proverbial wheel.

It’s good to see a few of the first cohort of workers from Australia embedded with UK and US counterparts, learning from the best and brightest in our defence industry.

But let’s be under no illusion the scale of the challenge, especially in relation to the pace required to get to the start line.

The scale and ambition of AUKUS is exciting for the defence industry. But at a time of heightened demand from Ukraine and Israel, and from other states who are bolstering their defences in light of Putin’s aggression, it will test the capability and capacity of defence sectors in all three partner nations.

So, we must work together to build the next generations of designers, project managers, engineers, welders, and technicians. As well as the nuclear, cyber and digital experts, who will play a vital role in delivering AUKUS.

These jobs demand unique skills and qualifications. Many require years of training. Developing the required workforce growth, without draining the existing skills bases, needs planning and investment.

We also need to ensure our people can move easily between the three countries, to enable them to exchange knowledge, skills and experience. I know that the mobility agreement we agreed as part of our UK- Australia FTA last year will be important in supporting that flow.

AUKUS is a multi-generational as well as multi-national endeavour, which will require us to adapt in order to continue to pull in the same direction.

For the partnership to work to best effect, we need to ensure legal and regulatory frameworks are complementary. US ITAR controls being reviewed and legislated at the moment by US legislators, will enable us to navigate a path through export control regimes, so our industries can work more closely together.

AUKUS is already changing how we work together, and we are working to overcome the challenges that arise from it.

In the UK we are investing in our new Nuclear Skills Taskforce, to boost the capacity of our sector. We have appointed a cross-government Director-General of AUKUS, to provide leadership and enhance coordination.

We must now work trilaterally to ramp up our engagement and delivery of urgent activity with industry. That’s why I was so pleased to hear about the brilliant Aukus Workforce Alliance created between HII, the US industrial maintenance lead for Virginias, Babcock, the UK’s industrial sustainment lead for UK Astutes and three Australian universities – Curtin, University of New South Wales and University of Adelaide. Forward thinking for the long-term skills challenge.

We have established an AUKUS Defence Industry Forum, which will bring together governments and industry from all three countries to help drive forward delivery of advanced capabilities. And we have initiated the AUKUS Defence Investors Network to strengthen financing.

To conclude, the scale of our ambition for the trilateral AUKUS partnership is vast, and there are enormous opportunities and responsibilities for government to enable industry to deliver the policy aims needed.

Delivering across both Pillars of the partnership will be an exceptionally complex challenge. But it is a challenge we can overcome by working together.

We must keep at the front of our minds at all times why we are doing this – we have a responsibility together to provide defence capabilities which will be capable of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific – not just for our trading and security interests, but for our neighbours, friends and allies.

Global maritime security is under pressure – our challenge is to assure it in order to:
- facilitate those flows of trade, goods moved about seamlessly day in day out from so many Indo-Pacific nations to the world;
- assure flows of energy, by ship and by pipeline and undersea cables;
- and ensure the safety of undersea data cables which underpin our global financial services.
These conversations are critically important to helping policy makers set this enormous project on the right road. So, thank you firstly to Senator Linda Reynolds for asking whether I would support this – of course!; and to Gordon Flake and the US Asia Centre and Business News for making it a reality.

So – please do tell me what you think we need to do to deliver our shared ambitions for AUKUS, drawing on the rich talents of the people and businesses of Western Australia. The simple question is are we going fast enough to enable you to deliver the requirements to sustain and maintain a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines here in Western Australia? Our mission is to reassure allies – and that will be achieved if we assure ourselves we are going hard and fast enough to meet delivery of the challenge.

I know you won’t be shy in sharing your views, that’s one of the wonderful characteristics of Australians!

Thank you.
December 10, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech at the South China Sea Conference

The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific, in Vietnam on 25 October 2023.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, friends. It’s good to be here with you in person this morning to show my support for an area of geopolitical importance.

I am especially glad to be here this year during the 50th anniversary year of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Vietnam. We are a close partner with Vietnam on maritime security and remain committed to strengthening our collaboration.

I’m here because what happens in the South China Sea matters globally. As you’re aware, almost 60% of global maritime trade passes through the South China Sea. This makes it vital that all parties enjoy the same freedoms to navigate and exercise in the South China Sea.

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine offers an alarming example of the pain inflicted when supply chains are disrupted by conflict. Rising energy and food prices are harming the world’s most vulnerable people.

Like you, the UK is committed to avoiding any such outcome in this region. We seek to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific. We want to deepen relationships with our partners, support sustainable development and tackle the shared challenges we all face.

What does this mean for the South China Sea? It means supporting stability and working together on climate change.

It also means establishing and maintaining open lines of communication. That is the most effective way of managing tensions. Failing to do so risks escalation. You in this region know, more than anyone, the potentially catastrophic consequences that this could have. As the UK deepens its long-term partnership with ASEAN and others in the Indo-Pacific, we are committed to helping you to de-escalate tensions and maintain stability.

That is why our commitment to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is unwavering. Last year, on its 40th anniversary, I reiterated the important role UNCLOS plays in setting the legal framework for activities in our seas and oceans.

The UK takes no sides in the sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, but we oppose any activity that undermines or threatens UNCLOS’ authority – including attempts to legitimise incompatible maritime claims.

The recent instances of unsafe conduct against Vietnamese and Filipino vessels has demonstrated the serious risks posed to regional peace and stability. When we see actions that violate UNCLOS we will call them out – as we did following events around the Second Thomas Shoal this week. And we will support our partners to shine a light on this so-called ‘grey zone’ activity that creates tensions and risks escalation.

Our ambassador in Manila joined partners this July in reiterating that the 2016 Arbitral Award is a significant milestone in resolving disputes peacefully and is legally binding on China and the Philippines. We call on both parties to abide by the findings of those proceedings.

Our partnership with ASEAN supports our shared commitment for a free and open Indo-Pacific. We respect and admire the central role ASEAN has played in maintaining regional stability and prosperity.

We look forward to working with you on advancing the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, with maritime cooperation being a key pillar. We also congratulate ASEAN on issuing its first Maritime Outlook and holding its first maritime Solidarity Exercise.

I am also grateful to my Indonesian counterparts for their work as ASEAN chair this year in progressing negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

The UK strongly believes in the need for an agreement that is consistent with UNCLOS and reflects the interests and guarantees the rights and freedoms of all parties – including third countries. The UK’s Carrier Strike Group will soon return to the region to demonstrate these rights and freedoms in practice.

Let me turn now to what the UK can offer.

Like ASEAN, we hope that a sea of conflict can become a sea of cooperation. There is no more urgent need for cooperation than on environmental degradation. Pressures on fisheries, the destruction of the marine environment and rising sea levels pose an existential threat to the millions of people who rely on the South China Sea for their livelihoods.

This is why we have launched new projects – including through our ASEAN dialogue partnership – to conserve the sea for our future generations.

Our Just Energy Transition Partnerships, signed with Vietnam and Indonesia, encourage the early retirement of high-emitting coal fired power plants, investment in renewable energy and overcome barriers to support an inclusive and just transition.

Our Blue Planet Fund, worth half a billion pounds, includes over £150 million for the COAST programme. This is designed to help vulnerable coastal communities across the region improve their climate resilience and become more sustainable.

Other Blue Planet Fund programmes focus on tackling plastic pollution – a key ASEAN objective; testing innovative mechanisms to mobilise blue finance; protecting coral reefs; and commissioning studies into the impact of climate security risks.

Furthermore, to sustain the South China Sea’s vital role as a provider for fish and livelihoods, this year the UK announced funding of £2.5 million on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing – another key priority of the ASEAN Maritime Outlook. This support will help the coastal communities, fragile ocean ecosystems, and global food supply chains that face devastation. We have already started work with partners in the Philippines and we want to expand the scope of similar practical projects with countries in this region, including here in Vietnam.

The UK also continues to support our regional partners’ resilience and security through our ASEAN-UK Maritime Cooperation Programme. We are helping to build capacity on maritime law and providing training and sharing expertise in Exclusive Economic Zone management, maritime domain awareness, and hydrographic research.

Through our bids to join the ASEAN Regional Forum, and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus, we propose to make even stronger commitments to regional security and stability.

In conclusion, the UK’s commitment in this region is steadfast. The peace and prosperity of the South China Sea must remain a priority for all. I wish you all a productive and successful conference and look forward to the rest of my time here in Vietnam to learn even more personally.

Thank you.

November 2, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech at Bruegel Event

The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, in Brussels on 14 June 2023.

The roll-out of clean energy technologies is the driver for new investment into critical minerals, which are of course at the heart of our global efforts to reach net zero.

Building this supply chain is the only way to address the climate crisis and complete our sprint towards net zero at the pace out planet needs us to.

The UK is committed to making global supply chains more resilient, secure, sustainable, and diverse, working closely with our partners around the world – including, of course, many of you here today.

We are particularly keen to increase collaboration with the EU and Member States, and I am glad of this opportunity to set out our priorities, and how the UK can support our common goals.

The publication of the detail for the proposed EU Critical Raw Materials Act is a welcome and important, step towards these shared goals. As the EU Member States and Parliament review the proposed legislation, the UK is keen to work with you.

We are keen to discuss the impacts of provisions as the policy develops. And we look forward to hearing more from the Commission on the design and purpose of the proposed Critical Raw Materials Club. It will be important to build on existing international initiatives, bringing together producers and end users.

We also hope the Club will foster co-operation to allow resource-rich developing countries to keep more of the benefits in their own countries, one of the great frustrations to date as a few countries have taken all the processing value.

The UK has significant strengths when it comes to critical minerals – this includes our industrial capabilities, academic expertise, and the City of London as the centre of global mining finance.

Allow me if I may to reflect on these in a little more detail.

The UK is proud to be home to some major players, including British chemicals company Johnson Matthey – the largest secondary refiner of Platinum Group Metals in the world, and one of the only companies with the facilities to recover iridium and ruthenium.

This is coupled with significant academic, research and development expertise across mining, geology and engineering, as well as monitoring and stress-testing supply chains. The British Geological Survey is a world leader in research that underpins policymaking, regulation and responsible investment.

The UK is also a global centre for mining finance and metals trading – the London Metal Exchange is one of the biggest in the world, with a large and influential community of traders, investors and advisors.

So, the UK is well-placed to convene dialogues between mining finance and metals trading communities – supporting the development of structured, effective markets that can deliver resilient and responsible supply chains right across Europe.

We are also leading in promoting ESG performance in global mineral supply chains, driven by our mining investor community. UK companies are leading the way in remote monitoring of ESG performance, through sensors and satellites.

The UK remains committed to working with the EU and its Member States, bringing our strengths to help in united efforts to achieve our shared goals, and I wish you fruitful discussions throughout the day.

June 16, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore

The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, in Singapore on 3 June 2023.

Good afternoon, it is a pleasure to be here in Singapore, and to join such a distinguished panel.

I am glad to have the opportunity to set out the ways in which the UK is deepening our cooperation with you, our partners in the Indo-Pacific. This work is important to us all, not just because this global growth hub plays a huge role in our shared security, freedom, and prosperity. But because of its central importance in tackling some of the most pressing global challenges – from climate change to managing the transformational impact of cutting-edge technologies such as AI.

The UK’s commitment to the Indo Pacific is already bearing fruit across trade, defence, climate action and more. We are delighted to be an ASEAN Dialogue Partner and to be well on the way to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

We hugely value and respect the central role that ASEAN plays in promoting co-operation and shaping the wider Indo-Pacific regional order. In particular, ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific provides a clear and welcome steer on how we can best work together, underpinned by shared priorities such as transparency, respect for sovereignty and international law.

As a Dialogue Partner, and a country committed to multilateralism, the UK places huge importance on listening to others’ views and ensuring that we shape our approach. We know that these genuine, trusted partnerships are the key to success.

If we look at some of the minilateralist relationships in the region, around climate action, we are excited to be working with Indonesia and Vietnam who are demonstrating great leadership in implementing new Just Energy Transition Partnerships with international support, driving a clean energy future for the region.

On maritime co-operation, an area of particular importance to us as a maritime trading nation, we are developing, with our Southeast Asian partners, an ambitious programme to build capacity and boost training on vital issues from protecting the marine environment to upholding maritime law.

We are also making a practical contribution to the region’s maritime security today. In 2021, two Offshore Patrol Vessels, HMS Tamar and HMS Spey, began their long-term deployment to the Indo-Pacific.

These crews of young Royal Navy sailors have been discovering anew the maritime complexity of the region and building strong new bonds of friendship. We will deploy a Littoral Response Group to the region next year to add further support and depth to the UK’s commitment. And – following HMS Queen Elizabeth, our 5th generation aircraft carrier and her strike group’s visits in 2021 – we will be sending another Carrier Strike Group to the Indo-Pacific in 2025.

Meanwhile, on Myanmar, the UK has focused on uniting the international community behind support for the ASEAN Five Point Consensus – including the landmark UN Security Council Resolution agreed last December. We are proud to be the penholder at the UN and will continue to bring all our efforts to support solutions.

The complex challenges facing the Indo-Pacific require a multi-faceted response.

The UK respects and supports ASEAN’s central role, both in enabling cooperation between its members, and in anchoring the wider regional security architecture. Within our ASEAN Plan of Action, which is now up and running, are a series of practical ASEAN-wide programmes. In addition, smaller groupings can also be effective in driving key issues more quickly. For the UK, what is important is that these initiatives are guided by a shared vision and shared respect for the principles of openness, good governance, respect for sovereignty and respect for international law.

Whether we are engaging with our partners collectively, bilaterally or as part of a smaller group driving action on urgent issues, the UK’s commitment to transparency with ASEAN partners remains unwavering.

Perhaps most clearly, if we look at AUKUS – through which we are supporting Australia in their defence and security responsibilities, bringing our decades of experience to heed, and accelerating collaboration on advanced military technologies with them and the US.

Is it geopolitically significant? Yes. Is it an alliance? No. Does it support security and stability in the Indo-Pacific – a goal to which ASEAN is also committed? Absolutely.

This is why I was so pleased to see Indonesian President Widodo’s comments that AUKUS and the Quad are partners not competitors to ASEAN; we wholeheartedly agree.

Looking to the future, the UK is committed to playing an even fuller and more active role in promoting and supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific, alongside other ASEAN Dialogue Partners.

This is why we have applied to join the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

And we will continue to deepen our cooperation with ASEAN through our five-year plan of action which we launched last year, advancing our shared priorities on security, the economy and some of the biggest global challenges of our times. Together, we can continue to build a more stable, peaceful and prosperous future for all.

June 12, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech to the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference
The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister for the Indo-Pacific, at Lancaster House in London on 16 May 2023.

Sir Ben, thank you and thank you, Viktorija. Thank you to the Council on Geostrategy for bringing us together today through this lens of the First Sea Lord’s annual conference to discuss those challenges of maritime security in its many guises in this growing and challenging global environment.

Good morning to all of you here, and I know also a wider but equally august crowd online. It’s always great to see Lancaster House being put to good use in bringing great minds together from military, academic to industrial leadership…. As well as you may have noticed, the pomp and ceremony it was part of for the coronation just a few days ago.

It is always a pleasure to welcome – and I know I am allowed to say this, I asked permission first, my mother is French, so I’d like to particularly welcome our French colleagues and Admiral Vandier to the place where the Lancaster House Treaties have been negotiated over decades.

As an island nation and a global trading power, the UK is constantly focused on the seas and oceans, and as James mentioned, we’ve been doing it a long time – since Queen Elizabeth the First we have made use of the global waterways for our prosperity, and have been leaders in ensuring we can defend them for our security, but also for the peace and freedom of many others.

Day to day, as over a third of the UK’s food is imported, the protection of maritime trade routes has a direct effect on all our daily lives – and perhaps we don’t do enough to ensure that our citizens really understand the importance of the Royal Navy’s daily workload.

Globally, 3 billion people rely on the sea for their food security: more than ever, this now brings new levels of challenge around responsible stewardship of the marine habitats that sustain us all, with the need for protein which nations with growing young populations need.

So as we provide leadership in the protection of sustainable ocean habitats, we are also charged with supporting those smaller nations for whom defending and protecting their EEZs, – their exclusive economic zones, which sovereign states under UNCLOS have sovereign rights over to explore and use their own marine resources.

This is proving less than straightforward when faced with those large distant fishing fleets who don’t share or respect their responsibilities.

In my recent visit to the Philippines, I was struck by the existential threat felt from the gangs of Chinese militia boats gathered overfishing overfishing shoal waters, leaving local fishermen under daily threat.

The maritime domain is under increasing pressure from systemic competition, driven by those resource needs, and is facing levels of threat and coercion not seen since World War 2. I believe that its therefore right to say we are genuinely entering a ‘new maritime century’.

The reality is that maritime protection needs have never gone away, but rather that we have should always have remained focused on the maritime.

With constrained defence budgets, and post the fall of the Berlin Wall, which perhaps brought a naïve assumption of peaceful times ahead, followed by land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the maritime has been quietly getting on with its job without as much attention as it needed.

Our Royal Navy continues to make us proud as the great guardian of our nation’s security near and far, and is respected and welcomed around the globe by our friends and allies. The expertise and trust which others share in our sailors continues to be a powerful deterrent to those who would flout the laws of the sea.

The Royal Navy guards our national security and wider maritime stability – the leading European nation in NATO, bringing our Continuous At Sea Deterrent submarine enterprise to the defence of all, and forging the alliances and partnerships around the world that make us all safer and protect our ways of life.

The threats we face today and in the years ahead may seem diverse and indeed far away, but they are all interconnected. It is vital if we are to continue to maintain freedom of navigation both for
- civilian shipping
- safe use of the sea for sourcing clean energy
- and the sustainable management of the sea and seabed’s natural resources
that we build and deliver multi-pronged strategies.

Threats to global supply chains, the militarisation of the seas, and the erosion of global norms like freedom of navigation are more real than perhaps many of our UK citizens can imagine in our calm European waters.

The degradation of fish stocks, and the precariousness of maritime livelihoods has the potential to wreak havoc with many nations’ basic ability to feed their people. The fair management and sustainable harvesting of the sea’s resources is critical to maintaining peaceful, thriving communities.

The region which poses the greatest opportunity but also risks to UK interests is the Indo-Pacific.

For too many here in Europe, this seems far away and can be ignored in favour of those urgent tactical crises much closer to home, in Ukraine. But that misses the point of the indivisibility of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific to global challenges.

So to ensure it is those opportunities which prevail, rather than the risks of disturbed or broken sea lanes and the safety of maritime sovereignty, our naval colleagues all need to work together to ensure the Indo-Pacific remains stable and free together.

This is why the Indo-Pacific is at the heart of our long-term foreign policy strategy, as we restated in our Integrated Review Refresh published in March – it is crucial to sustaining free trade, freedom of action, and freedom from coercion.

Sixty percent of global shipping passes through the region, for which stability there has a direct impact on households and businesses right here. When I am trying to explain to constituents what this all means, why I am on a plane half of my life going to visit countries very, very far away, I try and set it out by saying that it is about the goods we purchase every day, from your washing machine to the prawns in the supermarket. They come by ship through the South China Seas and those wider sea routes. If those routes become blocked, or unsafe for civilian shipping, the economic shocks would be dramatic.

Beyond the present dependencies, more than half of global growth is projected to come from the Indo -Pacific by 2050, so we need to ensure the UK is right at the heart of the region’s successful future – so we must be alive to the threats, working with allies to counter them, so that in concert our businesses and people can maximise the UK’s interests and opportunities.

The Indo-Pacific, beyond its growing potential to be an economic powerhouse, is also full of potential for clean energy resources, and the UK wants to be able to continue to bring our world leading expertise in clean energy, from wind to nuclear, to support and help to build sustainable business growth and livelihoods.

So in our agreements and partnerships with nations from Vanuatu to the Republic of Korea, from Bangladesh to Indonesia, the UK is focused on bringing our expertise to support positive impacts in coastal communities, alongside building expertise in marine science, and sharing educational resources.

But all of this depends on ensuring that the maritime environment for all these Indo-Pacific countries is safe and free from coercive shipping which would restrict their potential in their own waters.

The UK government’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund is an important part of our leadership on marine issues, supporting developing countries to protect the environment and reduce poverty. It is one of the tools in our armoury to deliver the challenges set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, to tackle biodiversity loss, to halt and reverse plastic pollution, and to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

This is work which we will deliver most effectively working with our key naval partners, especially through our Anglo-French alliance set on an even stronger course after our recent Anglo-French summit. These are tough targets because the oceans always have the power to surprise.

As with so many coastal regions, the North Sea – alongside my constituency’s 64 mile border in the North of England – can be both friend and foe. It’s giving us vast new resources of sustainable offshore wind power, but ferocious storms and the coldest climate in the country. Storm Arwen ripped through my patch in November 2021 and we are even now only starting to see normality resume with the opening of the National Park this spring after forestry was devastated.

The ferocity of Storm Arwen took everyone by surprise. But it was nothing compared to that which hit Ukraine last year, as Russia illegally invaded a sovereign neighbour. And whilst NATO and many other nations from around the world are doing all we can to support the Ukrainian war effort and their humanitarian needs, we should not overlook the maritime challenges the Ukraine crisis has created.

Economically, a secure, stable Black Sea is essential not only to rebuild Ukraine’s future, but because it is the sea lane which provides a vast proportion of the grain and fertiliser needs of East Africa and beyond.

The world needs those exports from the ‘breadbasket of Europe’ to resume and stabilise, alongside Ukraine’s need to deliver to the world for its own economic success. Trade and security go hand in hand, and it’s our navies who defend and ensure these flows of goods can continue safely.

We should also be much more comfortable in confronting the fact that the strategic link between maritime security in the Euro-Atlantic and in the Indo-Pacific are indivisible.

Where Russian actions flout the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this provides China with an excuse also to disregard international norms, to ignore the rules-based international system for their benefit, destroying the option of a free and open Indo-Pacific for all.

So as we approach the NATO summit in Vilnius – I know we’re joined by Admiral Gilday and Rear Admiral Skoog Haslum this morning – the increasingly strong demonstration of defence in the Baltic, to deal with the urgent tactical situation we face, needs to demonstrate the capability and intent of those of us determined to defend free, safe and open global waters.

The NATO partnership, through our transatlantic bonds, are keeping more than a billion citizens secure. But the rest of the world’s oceans and seas do not feel free and open to too many of the Indo-Pacific countries I visit week in week out as the UK’s Indo-Pacific minister.

So the UK, as a committed global maritime partner, is finding new ways to bring our expertise and support to the region. Perhaps the most challenging, exciting and long-term is AUKUS, a trilateral agreement to create an arc of defence and deterrence for the Indo-Pacific.

AUKUS demonstrates how longstanding partners can come together to tackle the new threats. Together with the US and Australia, we are going to build a new global and interoperable nuclear-powered submarine capability, that will not only support a free and open Indo-Pacific, but will also strengthen UK contribution to NATO in Europe.

AUKUS will create that next generation of expert engineers, welders, logisticians, programme managers, data analysts, regulators, and machinists to mention but a few, who will be building these new boats, alongside the need for growth in the number of submariners serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, with an extensive skill set needed to safely operate nuclear-powered submarines – and we will maximise our impact by creating a shared workforce.

This will bring new well-paid jobs for whole life careers for a growing workforce in Barrow, Plymouth, Rosyth and Faslane in the UK, alongside whole new workforces in Adelaide and Perth in Australia. This is not without its challenges, and the UK has a leading role to play in ensuring that our commitment to this huge military programme of work is a national endeavour here in the UK.

AUKUS submarines are part of Australia’s defence programme, but the Royal Navy and the UK’s submarine industrial enterprise will be critical to their success. Not since JFK’s determination to put a man on the moon, and NASA’s all encompassing national focus – where even the cleaners believed they were integral to the success of the project – has there been such a challenge to our industries and education systems.

Our universities and schools need to have AUKUS at the heart of their STEM programmes, so that every young person in school today has the chance to choose a lifetime career which is part of AUKUS:
- a global project designed to build submarines – yes
- a multifaceted activity to design new technologies of weaponry and undersea deterrence – yes
but perhaps most importantly, to be part of the commitment by the UK to grow the capabilities of our allies to defend their backyard, to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open, so that those nations who cannot defend themselves know that the AUKUS family is alongside them.

I hope that, by laying the groundwork with our partners now, by investing in the solutions of the future, the threats from Indo-Pacific nations who demonstrate coercive behaviours in those waters, will understand that the UK stands firmly alongside our Indo-Pacific neighbours to weather any storms.

We must not turn away.

What we must do – given the scale of the challenge – is to come together, in partnership with friends old and new, to deter and defend against threats to maritime stability, and to ensure our strategic advantage in the maritime domain.

Interoperability with our allies will be a core source of strength. Interchangeability will make us stronger still.

Navies need to combine their power with diplomatic support, while our diplomatic efforts need to amplify our willingness and capacity to protect our collective interests, whether in home waters or across the world.

The Navy’s Maritime Domain Awareness Programme is our gold standard for using our security expertise to build trust, partnership and capabilities, including with Middle Ground countries under pressure from revisionist states.

Strong deterrence and joint working are its watchwords.

And so my call to action today is to take the long view. It’s for an end to the ‘seablindness’ that can creep into an ever more complex foreign policy, and for a look into foreign policy priorities in every aspect of the processes of naval planning.

Ultimately, it’s our combined commitment to bring together our collective wisdom, listening to those few with deep expertise in delivery of maritime security through decades of confrontations under our oceans.

These challenges are not new, but ensuring success requires that we all lean in to deliver on our commitment. And the rationale for AUKUS is because the Indo-Pacific is a really huge expanse of water. We need more submarine capability providing deterrence in the only stealth environment remaining, across these vast areas.

We will only deliver the pace needed if we make this a national endeavour. If we don’t get our deterrence posture right, coercion could become aggression all too quickly.

But if we do, we can assure the security and prosperity not only for my constituents, but for all those who are banking on us.

Thank you.
May 25, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech at the Agriculture Breakthrough Ministerial Meeting

The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a Minister of State at the Foreign Office, on 9 May 2023.

Thank you, Juan-Lucas, and welcome friends, colleagues and our Breakthrough co-lead, Egypt. I want to thank our hosts, and offer congratulations to the USA and UAE for their global leadership on AIM for Climate, which has spurred on a wonderful group of partners in this race we are all in to innovate for a more resilient and sustainable food system.

Because as we meet, our food systems continue to be rocked by the effects of the climate crisis and armed conflicts, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. A cruel act, which has also caused turmoil in food, fertiliser and fuel markets, triggering economic instability and plunging millions into food insecurity. This turmoil has contributed to increasing the number of food-insecure people around the world, currently standing at nearly 350 million people.

And yet, instability is only one of the risks that we face. Climate change and the steady erosion of our ecosystems pose a continuing severe threat. And agriculture itself is the second largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, the primary cause of biodiversity loss, and the leading driver of deforestation.

So innovation has never been more urgent. With a lot of research and a little ingenuity, we can rise to the challenge. Scientific and technological advances over the last fifty years have allowed the world to make huge strides in tackling global hunger. The science of the Green Revolution increased GDP per capita in the lowest income countries by 20% by 2010. And modern crop varieties alone avert as many as 6 million infant deaths each year.

But as we confront the triple challenge of climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity, we need a new revolution – a truly green revolution, founded on innovation, that can deliver food security for all.

Fertilisers, for example, were highlighted as a priority in last year’s Breakthrough Agenda Report. From February to April last year, global fertiliser index prices rose by 30%, severely testing supply chains already buffeted by the pandemic. The highest global fertiliser prices since 2008, only piled on the pressure.

So that’s why I am pleased to announce today that the UK is joining the Global Fertiliser Challenge and will commit £3 million to a new research consortium, together with the USA and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. The Efficient Fertiliser Consortium will be dedicated to the development and testing of novel fertiliser products with the potential to transform productivity around the world, while safeguarding the natural resources on which we all depend.

So we invite others here, to join us in supporting this critical new research. We need everyone’s engagement, because innovation alone is not enough.

We need to get better at putting technologies to use, at scale. Too often, transformative ideas sit on the shelf, because market, policy, or investment barriers stand in the way of farmers’ access to them. And this is where the Agriculture Breakthrough comes in.

The Agriculture Breakthrough, which we launched during the UK’s COP26 Presidency, aims to “make climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture the most attractive and widely-adopted option for farmers everywhere by 2030”.

So at the heart of the agenda is international collaboration: the idea that, together, we can overcome those barriers that block widespread adoption of sustainable solutions:

From cutting-edge solar irrigation, which can transform the productivity of smallholder farmers in Africa, to climate resilient crops, such as the Vitamin A sweet potato which is nourishing millions, to promoting crop diversity by intercropping with beans and pulses which build soil health, to investing in cutting edge AI, predictive modelling and big data to extend credit to smallholder farmers, transform their productivity and enable them to grow more whilst avoiding land expansion and protecting those precious natural resources.

The opportunity is huge; agricultural innovation can unlock growth worth an additional $1.7 trillion to GDP in the Global South, and indeed could reduce global food prices by 16%.

At COP27, we welcomed thirteen new countries to the Breakthrough. But it is still young and we will hear from some of our newest members joining the group today, and I encourage others to join ahead of COP28 as we take on this enormous challenge together.

This meeting – standing as it does between COP27 and COP28 – is the ideal time for us to take stock and I am looking forward to the Breakthrough Agenda Report authors offering a preview of their findings for 2023. Their analysis will challenge us to do more together to accelerate the adoption of technologies.

Because as governments, we can create the conditions to make this happen. If we don’t, who will? Public support for agriculture is a key source of funding worth around £700 billion a year. There is compelling evidence that increasing the proportion spent on the development and deployment of climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture innovations, could yield substantial gains for the planet, for the economy and for everyone.

I urge you to grasp this opportunity over the coming months, as we all consider the Report’s recommendations and translate them into the Breakthrough action plans that we will set together at COP28.

Thank you.

May 10, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Statement on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

The statement made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

The UK is intensely focused on, and concerned by, the increasing violence on the west bank. The Foreign Secretary spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, on Tuesday to emphasise the importance of Israeli de-escalation ahead of the convergence of Easter, Passover and Ramadan. As the Foreign Secretary set out to this House on 14 March, he has also urged the Palestinian leadership to take steps to avoid a cycle of violence. While the security situation remains fragile, I welcome Israeli and Palestinian engagement in the meetings in Aqaba on 26 February and Sharm el-Sheikh on 19 March. It is critical that both parties abide by the commitments made there publicly and take forward the confidence-building measures that they have promised.

The UK wants to see three steps that would demonstrate commitment to de-escalating the worrying situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. First, the Palestinian Authority must resume security co-operation with Israel, fight against terror and incitement of violence, and improve the security situation in area A of the west bank. Too many Israelis have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the west bank this year. Such targeted attacks against civilians are unlawful, unjustifiable and repugnant.

Secondly, Israel must do more to tackle unacceptable settler violence such as that perpetrated against innocent Palestinians in Huwara. The UK has consistently urged Israeli security forces to provide appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, bring to justice perpetrators of settler violence and end the culture of impunity. The UK condemned the Israeli Finance Minister’s comments calling for the Palestinian village of Huwara to be “wiped out” and his recent comments that deny the existence of the Palestinian people, their right to self-determination and their history and culture.

Thirdly, Israel must also cease its unilateral steps that push parties further from dialogue and reduce the possibility of meaningful negotiations. Those steps include stopping approval of settlements, legalisation of outposts and evictions of Palestinians in occupied territory, particularly in east Jerusalem. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about the speculation of settlement building on the E1 site in the OPTs and we are pleased that there has now been a moratorium on that expansion. However, we are deeply concerned at the recent repeal of the 2005 Disengagement Plan Implementation Law by the Knesset. That decision is another unilateral measure that damages any renewed efforts at de-escalation and risks further undermining a two-state solution.

All Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace and security, not just through the upcoming festivals of Easter, Passover and Ramadan this spring, but for the long term. That will require political will, good faith, strong co-operation and meaningful actions by both Israelis and Palestinians. The UK remains resolute in its commitment to a two-state solution based on 1967 lines.

March 25, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech on the International Day of Education

The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons on 26 January 2023.

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford) for securing this debate to mark International Day of Education. I pay tribute to her work to drive progress on education around the world, both in her previous ministerial role and through her continued efforts as the new co-chair of the APPG on global education.

My colleague, the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), would have been delighted to take part in this debate, but he is travelling on ministerial duties. However, it is a pleasure to be able to respond on behalf on the Government. I am grateful to all hon. Members for their contributions. The strength of feeling about the importance of global education is clear and unequivocal, as it should be. Colleagues will be aware of my commitment to this cause, as the former Secretary of State in the Department for International Development who published our first strategy on 12 years of girls’ education back in 2020.

Education, especially for girls, is a top priority for this Government. Over five years from 2015, UK aid supported more than 15 million children, including 8 million girls, to benefit from a decent education. We continue to stand up for the right of every girl, everywhere, to access 12 years of quality learning. We know that that is the key to unlocking individual potential, as well as advancing prosperous, thriving societies and economies. In short, and as all hon. Members have said, it is one of the very best investments we can make. That is because not only do educated girls’ earnings increase significantly, but they are less likely to be subjected to child marriage and domestic violence, and more likely to have smaller, healthier and better educated families.

Too many children around the world lack these opportunities and face many barriers: poverty; a lack of safe and accessible schools; and the twin threats of conflict and climate change. As my hon. Friend the Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin) has said, this is seen most shockingly right now for girls in Afghanistan. I reiterate the Government’s condemnation of the Taliban’s decision to prevent girls from returning to secondary school and women to universities. Through our joint G7 Foreign Ministers’ statement and the UK national statement, we have repeatedly made that clear, and we continue to lobby the Taliban to reverse those destructive decrees.

As my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford has set out, about 244 million children are out of school around the world and more than half are girls. About seven in 10 children in low and middle-income countries are unable to read by the age of 10, and that generation could lose $21 trillion in earnings over their lifetimes as a result. Put simply, we face the real risk of a lost generation, and we cannot let that happen. That is why the UK is driving international action to tackle the education crisis.

In 2021, we hosted in London the global education summit, which raised an unprecedented $4 billion for the Global Partnership for Education. We put girls’ education at the centre of our G7 presidency that year and secured G7 endorsement of the two global objectives mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant): to get 40 million more girls into school and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10 by 2026.

We support developing countries to help children to learn in a safe, inclusive and sustainable way. Of course, that begins, just as it does in every school in all our constituencies, with strong foundations: basic reading, maths and social skills—the building blocks on which all children everywhere can make progress in school and reach their potential so that they have choices later in life. That is why the UK launched a commitment to action on foundational learning last year at the UN summit on transforming education. We are calling on all Governments around the world to prioritise those basics, especially for the most marginalised girls.

We also support girls and young women to make their way into higher education and training, to boost their employment prospects. As part of that, we launched the girls’ education and skills programme on International Women’s Day last year. That innovative partnership between Government and major global businesses was initiated by my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald in her role as special envoy on girls’ education. I thank her for her relentless advocacy, her enthusiasm and the globetrotting that she does on behalf of the Prime Minister to bring these issues to light across the globe.

We want to continue to prioritise reaching the poorest and most marginalised girls, with a particular focus on reaching children affected by emergencies and protracted crises. On climate change in particular, the figures are bleak: 40 million children each year have their schooling disrupted by its impacts. For example, I met some children in the village of Mele in Vanuatu—a Pacific island literally the other side of the planet from here. I met them in December, and their school had been battered by sea storms unprecedented in the island’s history. That was a real, practical and destructive event for those small children, who had not experienced that in their lives before.

Those climate threats are creating the sort of disruptions that are absolutely destructive and will cause damage for so many more children, so our focus on helping developing countries to adapt and become more resilient to the climate shocks we know they will have to face will be critical to protecting those children who are in education and enabling them to continue their education. We are supporting education for the poorest through UK-led programmes in 19 countries. That is complemented by our significant investments through the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait, which supports children through emergencies.

It is of course important to leverage financing. That is why we are a leading partner in developing the new international finance facility for education, which is focused on lower middle income countries to help girls into learning. Meanwhile, the UK Girls’ Education Challenge is the largest programme of its kind in the world. More than 1 million girls who were most at risk of dropping out are now staying in school and making progress, and over 150,000 with disabilities are able to attend school.

Our new position paper, which we published last month, is our road map towards addressing the climate, environment and biodiversity crises in and through girls’ education. I reassure colleagues that we will be publishing the new international women and girls strategy in the coming months, which will be framed around the three E’s of educating girls, empowering and championing the health and rights of women and girls, and ending violence.

Members have raised concerns about the reduction in the aid budget and its impact on education programmes. Colleagues are all aware that difficult decisions have been made to meet the 0.5% commitment, and to support those fleeing the war in Ukraine and insecurity in Afghanistan.

Harriett Baldwin

Will my right hon. Friend commit to writing to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to make the point that the money for Ukrainian refugee children in the UK, which I believe comes from the official development assistance budget, is not necessarily following that child if they move to a new school?

Anne-Marie Trevelyan

My hon. Friend raises an important point, of which I was not aware; it has not been brought to me in my constituency. I will take it up with the Secretary of State and ensure that we understand where those issues are, the size of the problem, and how we can ensure that, whichever schools are looking after those young people who are here from Ukraine, they can have the support they need.

We are prioritising our 0.5% aid spending in line with the priorities that we set out in our international development strategy, which, of course, includes girls’ education. The UK remains one of the most generous global donors, spending £11 billion in aid in 2021.

I reassure colleagues that, in relation to the Afghanistan crisis, FCDO officials are in regular contact with the NGO community to understand the impact of the Taliban ban on female workers. Where NGO partners have had to suspend activity, the FCDO is continuing to cover staff salaries and other critical associated operational costs, and we are encouraging UN agencies to do the same with their NGO counterparts.

As Members know, development is not just about aid packages. UK support to global education includes our valuable country partnerships, expertise, and power to convene others, such as through the global summit.

As colleagues have already said, and championed, we are proud to be a co-founder of, and leading donor to, Education Cannot Wait. Members have asked for details on the UK’s future commitment to ECW. The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield, will announce the UK’s future contributions— I am afraid that I cannot steal his thunder—at the high- level financing conference in February.

I will end by reaffirming the UK’s unwavering commitment to global education, which remains at the heart of our work towards a more prosperous, stable and equal world. I know that all colleagues here today will continue to champion education as the most effective investment every nation can make.

February 3, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech at Asia House

The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, on 25 January 2023.

Thank you Stephen, Michael, I am so pleased to be here at Asia House today. I was recalling that I thought I’d been here before, and then realised that I’d only been here virtually, so it’s lovely. I’m sorry for those of you who are virtual but it’s lovely to be actually here – the sense that we can gather once again and really share our thoughts and the work that you’re doing. At a personal level, it makes such a difference.

We have got of course a phenomenal panel this morning, so many incredible experts and leaders around the world.

So today, I really want to reaffirm the UK’s ongoing commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, highlight – I hope – some of our successes and explore the ways in which government and business can work more closely together. Making the UK’s Indo-Pacific strategy into a clean, economic and security reality, is partly achieved, of course, by businesses creating strong ties and achieving mutually beneficial partnerships, whilst they capitalise on all the UK has to offer – from the City of London, to our world class universities and of course our luxury brands.

As the International Trade Secretary, I promoted UK trade and investment and built trade deals as frameworks for businesses. Now, as Minister for the Indo-Pacific I have the wonderful role of helping to smooth the road ahead so that you can forge these connections, both in the UK and across this great region. If rules, regulations or political decisions are getting in your way, I am here to help.

So building those stronger partnerships in this region, is a top government priority, first set out, you will have noticed, in our 2021 Integrated Review. Our new Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary are currently refreshing this whole of government framework, which will set out how our Euro-Atlantic and our Indo-Pacific economies and security are inextricably bound together.

We believe in a free and open Indo-Pacific. All states have the right to ensure their sovereignty. So competition should be managed in a way that minimises strain between great powers and doesn’t spill over into conflict.

China remains incredibly important to the UK both as a trading partner and in tackling global challenges such as climate change. But we are clear-eyed on the need to respond to those systemic challenges which China may pose to our values and interests.

The appalling, illegal invasion of Ukraine has underlined the interconnectedness of Europe and the Indo-Pacific, as brutally demonstrated by the global impact of the conflict on energy and food prices.

As 60% of global shipping passes through the Indo-Pacific, and more than half of global growth is projected to come from the region by 2050 – though perhaps the report will tell me something even more impressive than that – the UK must have her strategic focus facing the region.

So to ensure we can strengthen our resilience, and protect our security, we need to strengthen our partnerships with likeminded states. The Indo-Pacific is home to many who are – like the UK – committed to territorial integrity, freedom from economic coercion, and the open market.

So how are we doing this in practice? One of the first actions of our ‘tilt’ was to secure ASEAN Dialogue Partner status, and we have now agreed our Plan of Action.

The opportunity that our UK-ASEAN cooperation offers for UK business is vast. ASEAN as a bloc is competitive in manufacturing and our UK economy is highly complementary given the strength of our financial services.

The UK government is actively supporting a pipeline of investment into business collaboration across a variety of sectors, including of course R&D. Last year the first UK-Singapore bilateral R&D call was launched, with £5 million of Innovate UK funding. Over 50 joint proposals were received, 90 projects are being funded, supporting businesses across all parts of the UK.

The UK recognises ASEAN countries’ determination to maintain peace and prosperity across the region, because that’s how business and prosperity can thrive. We are working with Australia and the USA, to bring world-leading submarine technology to the Australian Navy through the AUKUS partnership, which will support their regional defence and security capabilities and commitments.

I re-negotiated world class, modern and expansive free trade agreements and 2 new ones with Australia and New Zealand last year, and are working to conclude an FTA with India.

We have new digital economy agreements with Singapore and Japan, making it easier for our companies to collaborate on tech initiatives and co-operate more closely in IT and telecoms. For example, building on recent successes like Rakuten’s decision to build a new 5G facility in the UK.

We will be the first European country to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership – first off, are you impressed – CPTPP, for friends. This will not only give us access to a partnership with a joint GDP of £9 trillion, and remove tariffs on 95% of all goods traded, but we will also be able to share our legal expertise and our other professional services to help shape future trading rules.

This is particularly important when we look to the current and future challenges of governance for artificial intelligence, the use of data and cyber security.

Much of the innovation in these areas will come from the Indo-Pacific region, which is why the UK government is so keen to strengthen our collaboration across science, technology and R&D. One of our most successful collaborations is the Serum Institute’s partnership with Oxford University and AstraZeneca. As well as unlocking access to 5 million COVID-19 vaccines in the UK, it has led to an investment of £50 million in Oxford Biomedica and the opportunity to deliver their ground breaking Malaria vaccine, with the potential to save millions of lives.

The recently-agreed Global Combat Air Programme, between the UK, Japan and Italy, will also push technological boundaries to deliver the next generation of fighter jets. This partnership will pool the expertise of our 3 countries to deliver cutting-edge defence technology.

Innovation and collaboration are also imperative for tackling the biggest issue facing us all: climate change. The Indo-Pacific is on the frontline with many littoral communities threatened by rising seas, typhoons and millions at the mercy of drought. The UK is proud to be a global leader and convener on climate. Our businesses and universities are innovators and producers of renewable and low carbon services.

UK climate change partnerships are mobilising billions of pounds in green finance, including the UK’s Climate Action for a Resilient Asia Programme, which will support up to 14 million people to adapt to climate change.

We are also supporting Vietnam and Indonesia, to deliver on their net-zero ambitions, through the Just Energy Transition Partnerships.

With G7 partners, we want to support ASEAN and other countries to develop the future infrastructure that they need. To help achieve this, we have opened a new British International Investment regional hub, the UK government’s development investment arm, in Singapore. Through it we intend to invest up to £500 million in the region over the next 5 years. BII will partner with investors in the region to help these economies reduce emissions, protect the environment and adapt to climate change.

We have a unique and compelling offer to the region, thanks to the skills, products and networks of our people, our businesses and our institutions. We are determined to maximise their impact and delivery to achieve our shared ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, and weave strong regional ties to create a secure and prosperous future for our children and generations to follow. So let us do all we can together to make them proud of the choices and commitments we make today to protect their world. Thank you.

January 26, 2023