Tag: Cabinet Office

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 21 December 2022.

More than £8.5 million of funding has been announced in order to ensure no veteran should sleep rough this Christmas, and veteran homelessness is ended in 2023.

• £8.55m funding announced for more than 900 veteran supported housing units with specialist help for former armed forces personnel.
• The funding for a bespoke homelessness pathway, called Op FORTITUDE – similar to Op COURAGE for Mental Health care, to ensure every veteran at risk of homelessness knows where to turn.

More than £8.5 million of funding has been announced in order to ensure no veteran should sleep rough this Christmas, and veteran homelessness is ended in 2023.

The funding will deliver services in more than 900 housing units in England, where specialist help for veterans, including with health, education and employment needs are provided.

The new money announced today will also allow for the establishment of a new referral scheme – Op FORTITUDE, that will enable veterans at risk of homelessness to access supported housing and wrap-around specialist care in health, housing and education. Working with charities, the funding will ensure a single central point for local authorities and charities to identify those in need and refer them to a network of support.

Ahead of the funding, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer worked with the veteran housing charity sector, bringing them together to establish a temporary referral scheme in England and Scotland for the Christmas period, ensuring that no Veterans should be sleeping rough this Christmas.

Veterans can access the scheme through a dedicated charity helpline, on the number 01748 833797.

This temporary referral scheme should ensure that no veteran who seeks support is homeless at Christmas.

The Prime Minister will today host an event at No10 attended by charities Riverside and Stoll, along with veterans who were previously homeless. The Prime Minister will discuss with attendees the issue of veteran homelessness and how the government, including the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, can best ensure that everyone who needs support gets it.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer and Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen will also attend.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer said:

No one, not least those who have served this country, should be homeless.

That’s why today we are committing £8.5m in funding and supporting a dedicated pathway, set up in collaboration with our charity partners, so veterans can not only get the housing support they need this Christmas, but also the vital backing required to help them get on their feet again.

As a government we remain steadfastly committed to ending veteran homelessness in 2023.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen said:

It’s a sad fact that so many people who have served this country find themselves sleeping rough on the streets.

Our mission is to put a stop to that, which is why we’re providing £8.5m in funding for over 900 housing units that support our veterans and creating a new service that will help those at risk of homeless access housing much more easily.

Today’s announcement should ensure that no veteran who seeks help will be on the streets this Christmas.

Lee Buss-Blair, the Director of Operations for The Riverside Group, and Member of the Veterans Advisory Board said:

This funding will make a significant difference to the lives of vulnerable veterans.

Not only will it support the Government’s commitment to end veteran rough sleeping, but it will also provide organisations the resources to support veterans into work.

Veterans have so much to offer employers and communities, and thanks to this funding, providers will be far better placed to support them to realise their potential.

The funding will ensure the government’s pledge in the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-24 to end veteran rough sleeping within this Parliament, is delivered a year early.

Running for two years the funding provides help and support to some of the most vulnerable veterans in our society.

The vast majority of veterans go on to live happy, healthy and successful lives. But some do struggle and today’s announcement further demonstrates the government’s commitment to making this the best country in the world to be a veteran.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 20 December 2022.

Report published on how location data can help build an electric vehicle (EV) chargepoint network that works for everyone, everywhere.

The Geospatial Commission today publishes a report on how location data can support the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints and announces a project to improve access to demand modelling.

To build a chargepoint network that can work for everyone, chargepoints must be rolled out where they are needed for today and tomorrow. Location data is key to building the right infrastructure in the right places, giving confidence to current and future EV owners that they can efficiently reach their destination.

The UK government has committed to ending the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. A comprehensive and reliable public EV chargepoint network is critical to greater adoption of EVs. The UK’s charging network must expand rapidly so that it is dependable, fair and covers the entire country.

The report identifies how location data can help model future demand, select suitable sites, create a seamless consumer experience and track rollout. To improve the use of location data, the report announces that the Geospatial Commission will:

1. Launch a feasibility study into how to widen access to demand modelling, to provide planners with data-driven evidence to identify how many and what types of chargepoints need to go where and by when.
2. Explore the creation of a geospatial dataset for off-street parking, to support planners to identify suitable sites for chargepoints and avoid wasted effort.
3. Support the government to make chargepoint data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) and track how market innovators use the data to create new services which enhance the consumer experience.

Baroness Neville Rolfe, Minister of State, Cabinet Office, said:

“The UK must have an electric vehicle chargepoint network that works for the entire country. The Geospatial Commission’s report highlights how location data can help build the right infrastructure in the right places. Drivers will then have the confidence to switch to EVs in the knowledge that they will be able to charge them easily and efficiently and not be delayed in reaching their destination wherever it is.”

Jesse Norman, Minister of State, Department for Transport, said:

“We want to ensure that the UK keeps its position as a world leader in decarbonising road transport. That is why the government is working to build an electric vehicle chargepoint network that works for everyone, everywhere. Location data is a crucial part in accelerating the transition to a sustainable transport system, and I look forward to working with the Geospatial Commission to realise our ambition for electric vehicles.”

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 19 December 2022.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 16 December 2022.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 15 December 2022.

Baroness Noakes DBE has been appointed as the Conservative Party Member for the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Baroness Noakes will commence the role on 1st January 2023, after Baroness Browning’s term comes to an end.

The Baroness Noakes DBE

The Baroness Noakes DBE was made a life peer in 2000. In 2001, she served as the Opposition Spokesperson for Work and Pension and Health, in 2003 serving as the Opposition Spokesperson for The Treasury, before working on a number of Lords Committees. Prior to becoming a peer she served as a Partner at KPMG, Director of Finance of the NHS Management Executive and a member of the Court of the Bank of England (Director of the Bank of England). She currently sits on the Economic Affairs Committee, Finance Committee, and the Finance Bill Sub-Committee in the House of Lords.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, welcomed Baroness Noakes’s appointment, saying:

I would like to congratulate Baroness Noakes on her appointment to the House of Lords Appointments Commission and I am grateful to Baroness Browning for her excellent service over the last five years. Baroness Noakes brings to the role a depth of experience and commitment to public service that will be of huge value to the Commission.

Notes:

The House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) has two main functions:

• to recommend individuals for appointment as non-party political life peers;
• and to vet nominations for life peers, including those nominated by the UK political parties, to ensure the highest standards of propriety.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 5 December 2022.

• Latest figures show more than £400m of taxpayer money has been saved by the National Fraud initiative (NFI), bringing total counter fraud savings to £2.4bn
• Cutting edge data tool helps identify businesses and people trying to steal public money
• Fraudulent disabled passes and bogus benefit claims blocked in crackdown

The equivalent healthcare costs for 129k people in England over the last year has been kept in the government coffers by fraud-fighters, new figures published by the Cabinet Office have revealed.

More than £400 million has been saved for the public purse using cutting-edge data matching software, as the Government clamps down on benefits and tax fraud.

The National Fraud Initiative enables organisations to use data and match records so they can pick up where people or businesses are taking the government for a ride. Since its inception, it’s identified and helped recover around £2.4bn.

The latest figures show around 42,000 fraudulent disabled blue badges were being used and more than 225,000 cases where discounted travel cards of people who had died or didn’t qualify for concessions have now been blocked.

Around 7,000 people who were clogging up the social housing waiting lists of 102 councils despite not being eligible have been identified and removed, opening up affordable housing for those who need it.

Minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin said:

British people work hard for every penny and they rightly expect the government to put everything they’ve got into protecting taxpayers’ money.

“Money stolen from the government through fraud is theft from every taxpayer.

This report shows we saved the taxpayer £443 million. When the country is tightening its belt, government must do the same.

To be even more effective, earlier this year, we set up a new anti-fraud authority which is designed by and led by fraud experts whose express mission is to take the fight to fraudsters.

One case study was in Sandwell where an individual was offered social housing. They then claimed to a neighbouring council that they were homeless and were offered temporary housing. The use of NFI data-matching allowed the fraud to be identified and the individual is now in arrears of nearly £100,000.

Another came in Tameside where a hospitality business which was ineligible for small business support lied to two councils about its size and received more than £40,000 in rates relief.

Interim CEO of the Public Sector Fraud Authority Mark Cheeseman said:

Every day, people are attacking taxpayer funded services for their own gain. The Public Sector Fraud Authority, where the National Fraud Initiative is now based, is part of a wider investment across government to rise to this challenge.

In a difficult context, these latest results are still the best since the National Fraud Initiative started in 1996 – stopping more fraud than at any other point in its history and protecting public money and public services. This achievement is a testament to the work of public servants across the United Kingdom, including Local Authorities and NHS Trusts, who are striving to find and stop fraud.

The newly-established Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) has been backed by £25 million of new funding with a target of saving £180 million for the taxpayer by April 2023.

The PSFA houses the National Counter Fraud Data Analytics Service which includes the NFI, putting the use of data and analytics at the heart of the response to fraud. The new Authority will be working across the government to better understand fraud and solidify defences.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen said:

This government is coming down hard on fraudsters, using cutting edge data to track them and recover public money.

We’re boosting that work with an extra £280 million to tackle benefit fraud and £79 million to tackle tax fraud. No one is above the law.

At the Autumn Statement, the government announced that it will invest £79 million to tackle tax fraud. HMRC will be given £48 million to strengthen HMRC’s approach to serious fraud, allowing HMRC to pursue more cases, while another £31m will increase HMRC’s capacity to deal with complex tax risks amongst wealthy taxpayers. Together, this investment is expected to raise £725m over the next five years.

An additional £280 million in funding for the Department for Work and Pensions to tackle fraud and error across the benefits system will also help to save £410 million in the next two years and £2.2 billion per year by 2027/28.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 4 December 2022.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 28 November 2022.

Op-ed from Minister Neville-Rolfe, originally published in The Times on Monday 28 November.

Before entering politics, I had a front-row seat in the world of business in an FTSE 100 boardroom as an executive and main board director at Tesco — a high street name, one of Britain’s ’s biggest companies and an employer of thousands that every day relied on the work and products of smaller businesses in its supply chains. I also have worked at much smaller companies, including Dobbies, Red Tractor and Crown Agents. So I know, very well, the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and the opportunities that we can unlock in government by making the right changes. And now that I’m in government, I’m in the right place to make it happen.

Complex procurement regulations, for example, have long been the bane of small companies. The government, likewise, wants to make it easier for such businesses to work with the public sector by ripping up unnecessary rules.

This week, as the Procurement Bill goes into its report stage in the House of Lords, I intend to make real progress. The bill will slash through red tape, replacing 350 European Union regulations with one simple and flexible framework for the five million UK SMEs that could compete for public sector contracts. It also will tackle late payment in the supply chain.

In the past year, SMEs have won a record £19.3 billion in government procurement spending. It is great to see the graph heading in the right direction, but we all want to see a steeper line.

With the overall procurement pie worth £300 billion, I know from hosting many round tables and from speaking to entrepreneurs and business people that the bill can do more to help SMEs across the country to get a bigger slice. From those conversations, I believe we should use the bill to strengthen three areas.

First, to put contracting authorities in the frame for reducing the challenges for small businesses. Procurement teams will have to make sure there are no unnecessary barriers that might hinder smaller companies in the contract; that bidding timelines are realistic; and that there is a clear timeline so that SMEs can plan accordingly.

Second: accounting. Another burden on smaller suppliers is having to provide audited accounts as a test of their financial standing. We will require contracting authorities to accept alternative evidence where audited accounts are unavailable: this will prevent some businesses being excluded from bidding.

And finally: insurance. A part of the procurement process unfairly penalises businesses that lack the war chests of big corporations. We will make it explicitly clear that contracting authorities must accept evidence that required insurance cover will be in place when a contract is awarded, rather than at the point of bidding. This will save SMEs from having to incur unnecessary upfront costs, a burden they shoulder at present.

With an estimated turnover of £2.1 trillion, SMEs make up 99 per cent of UK businesses and I am delighted to be playing my part in taking full advantage of our restored powers and sovereignty to help our domestic businesses to grow.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 25 November 2022.

A summary of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Event at COP27.

Summary

• The Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership was launched on behalf of a group of ambitious countries to drive delivery of the 2030 target to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.
• 16 governments made statements on how they will work towards the 2030 goal. These included Colombia’s announcement of USD $200 million annually for the next two decades to save the Amazon, Kenya’s plans to restore 10.5 million hectares of degraded forests and rangelands, Ecuador’s plans to increase forested land by 1.4 million hectares by the end of 2023 and Germany’s increase of international climate finance for forests by €1 billion EUR.
• Leaders demonstrated transparency to prior public finance commitments. The Global Forest Finance Pledge released a report outlining that USD $2.67 billion was contributed to forest-related programmes in developing countries in 2021, 22% of the 5-year commitment made at COP26.
• Private sector leaders including SouthBridge Investments, &Green and Volkswagen made commitments to ensure their operations align with the 2030 goal to halt and reverse forest loss.

At COP26, over 140 world leaders committed to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation” in the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use (GLD). This was backed by a financial package of $19.2 billion from public donors, philanthropy and private investors.

Demonstrating delivery on these commitments is crucial to meet the 2030 GLD ambition. At COP27, leaders from governments, companies, the finance sector, and Indigenous Peoples came together at the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Summit to focus on delivery, to share best practice and scale action aligned with the GLD. Headline announcements included:

Political Leadership

The Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) was launched at the Summit on behalf of 26 Governments and the European Commission who together represent a third of the world’s forests and nearly 60% of the world’s GDP. These leaders are committed to maintaining political focus on the objectives of the GLD, to inspiring and fostering ambition and positive action through providing annual high-level political platforms, to being accountable for delivery of pledges made, and to supporting each other and scaling action through collective initiatives. The FCLP will provide a space for governments to innovate, and problem solve together to drive progress towards the 2030 target, and to take stock of current progress. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry announced that the FCLP will initially be co-chaired by the United States of America and Ghana.

The Summit afforded the opportunity for government, business, civil society and Indigenous community leaders to set out how they are turning the GLD into practical action. This included 14 heads of state or government who spoke and a further 3 heads of delegation who represented their respective governments. For example, President Akufo-Addo of Ghana shared that Ghana’s Cocoa Forest Programme recorded its first emissions reductions which account for 972,456 tonnes of C02 equivalent and generated a result-based carbon payment of USD $4.8 million, and Ecuador announced that it will increase forested land by 1.4 million hectares by the end of 2023.

Public Finance

Delivery and Scaling

At COP26,12 governments collectively committed USD $12 billion for international forests over 5 years through the Global Forest Finance Pledge. At the Summit, those governments collectively reported on progress (pdf, 287 KB). In calendar year 2021, USD $2.67 billion was contributed to forest-related programmes in developing countries. This equates to 22% of the original pledge and means that donors are on track to deliver by 2025. For example, the UK Prime Minister announced £65 million for the Climate Investment Fund’s “Nature, People and Climate” Programme (NPC). This funding will help to protect forests while supporting the livelihoods of the people who depend on them.

In addition, governments demonstrated that public finance will be scaled to meet the 2030 target. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro announced USD $200 million annually for the next two decades to save the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest. Chancellor Scholz also announced that Germany will double its international climate finance for forests from €1 billion EUR to €2 billion EUR through to 2025.

The Congo Basin

The Congo Basin is the second largest rainforest in the world and is crucial for the supply of rainfall to the African continent. Heads of State from the Congo Basin addressed the Summit and emphasised their national ambition, their record of delivery and the need for greater support for the region, including:

• President Ali Bongo reiterated Gabon’s intent to trade REDD+ credits as a means of increasing the value derived from their forests which cover 88% of the country.
• President Sassou highlighted that the Republic of Congo has created 45,000 hectares of forest since 1970 and is aiming to create 1 million hectares of forest cover through its national programme of reforestation but needs international support to meet these commitments.
• Prime Minister Lukonde highlighted the importance of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s’ forests and peatlands to global carbon sequestration efforts.

At COP26, governments and philanthropy collectively pledged USD $1.5 billion to the Congo Basin over 5 years. At the Summit, they reported (pdf, 889 KB) that they had provided USD $508 million support for forests and people in the Congo Basin. The UK Prime Minister also announced delivery of support for forests through development of a new £90 million programme in the Congo Basin.

In addition, Chancellor Scholz of Germany announced that the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) is seeking to mobilise private finance at scale through funding the design of a series of Forest Performance Bonds in Central Africa with the potential to secure co-investment from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) amongst others. The bond would invest in forest positive businesses across the region.

Finally, the &Green fund announced that they are committing up to USD $10.6 million in addition to USD $32 million of CAFI funding to invest in sustainable agriculture in the Congo Basin.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

At COP26, governments and philanthropies committed USD $1.7 billion through the Indigenous People and Local Communities Forest Tenure Pledge. At the Summit, the Prime Minister of Norway reported that USD $321 million of finance had been disbursed by donors in 2021 before leading a minute’s silence to pay respect to environmental defenders that had sacrificed their lives in order to protect us all. Representatives from the Global Alliance for Territorial Communities – Marleine Nguie and Levi Sucre – called for the importance of indigenous peoples to be reflected by increased action on the ground.

Restoration in Africa

At the One Planet Summit in April 2021, financial institutions committed USD $19.6 billion to restore degraded land and forests in Africa, primarily through the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative. Alongside AFR100, the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, GGW initiative is driving investment to restore over 100 million hectares of degraded in land in Africa by 2030. The conservation, management and restoration of land at this scale has the potential to sequester 3 GtCO2 equivalent.

At the Summit, President Macron of France chaired a session on restoration in Africa, he announced that USD $2.57 billion of this commitment was spent in 2021, whilst President von der Leyen reported that the European Commission is on track to overdeliver on its promise to spend EUR 700 million to fund the Great Green Wall.

President Suluhu of Tanzania outlined plans to plant 2 million trees every three years and called for assistance to ensure that Tanzania can benefit from carbon credits, whilst President Macky Sall of Senegal called on countries to help increase in-country capacity to grow trees and implement agroforestry practices.

President Ruto announced Kenya’s tree growing programme will restore 10.5 million hectares of degraded forest and rangelands. The programme will grow 5 billion trees in the next 5 years and an additional 10 billion trees in the 5 years thereafter, generating 200,000 jobs in the process.

The President of the African Development Bank (AFDB) Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the appointed champion of the Great Green Wall, outlined plans for a USD $20 billion investment in solar technology that will provide Great Green Wall communities with access to electricity and reduce their access on wood for fuel. He called on leaders to offer their support to the Climate Action Window, the concessional arm of the AFDB with an aim of raising USD $13 billion to restore land, deliver climate resilient technologies and secure access to water.

Dr Frannie Léautier, CEO of Southbridge Investments, announced the development of a major new partnership, The African Forest Funds, with AFR100 and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). This fund will blend USD $500 million of concessional finance with USD $1.5 billion in private investment to support local restoration efforts across the continent.

As part of its USD $2 billion commitment to landscape restoration and improving food systems made at COP26, the Bezos Earth Fund announced USD $50 million for locally led restoration aligned with AFR100. This new commitment will help restore parts of the Congo Basin and Great Rift Valley.

Accelerating Private Finance for Forests

Progress on COP26 commitments

The Summit held a session on accelerating private finance for forests. Leaders announced progress on delivering against private finance commitments made at COP26:

• The Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition announced that it has increased the total amount of finance for the purchase of high-integrity emissions reductions credits to over USD $1.5 billion, of which USD $500 million is new and additional. This represents a 100% increase in financial commitments from the private sector since COP26 with Volkswagen Group and H&M Group the latest to make commitments.
• Na Kyung-Won, Special Envoy for Climate for the Republic of Korea announced that Korea will join the LEAF Coalition and outlined its critical role in mobilising forest finance globally. In addition, Minister Manrique announced that Ecuador had become the first forest nation to sign a LEAF memorandum of agreement, which sets out next steps and a clear roadmap for the signing of a binding Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreements by April 2023.
• The Innovative Finance for the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco (IFACC) commitments have risen from USD $3 billion to USD $4.2 billion, an increase of $1.2 billion, and the initiative now comprises 13 financial institutions and agribusiness companies.
• The Forest Investor Club, announced at COP26 by the United States Department of State’s Office of Global Change has selected the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to play a leading role in the coordination and engagement of members. It will annually disclose progress being made to catalyse investments in forests and nature.
• The Natural Capital Investment Alliance has continued to target a mobilisation of USD $10 billion towards natural capital themes, with over USD $1.1 billion committed and a further USD $6.2 billion raising funds to deploy.

New Commitments of Non-Government Financial Support

At COP26, USD $7.2 billion of private sector funding was pledged for forest protection and restoration. At the Summit, private sector leaders reported that[1]:

• FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank is committing to build a forestry portfolio to at least EUR €500 million with the ambition to increase it to EUR €1 billion by 2030.
• The establishment of a new collaboration of philanthropic donors, Forests, People, Climate (FPC), was announced. Its aim is to mobilise and deploy significantly increased philanthropic funding in support of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration goal. At the Summit, USD $400 million over five years in new philanthropic funding was committed to the FPC with a goal of raising another USD $1.2 billion over the next five years. These new commitments go beyond the USD $380 million over five years that the thirteen donors currently involved in the collaboration already planned to spend toward the FPC goal.

Systemic Shifts

To support delivery of the long-term systemic shifts required to ensure that all public and private financial flows are aligned to support delivery of the 2030 goal, central banks and ministers of finance highlighted work being undertaken to further understand the significance of nature-loss as part of their wider work to manage the systemic risk of climate change. Central Bank Governors from Chile, Malaysia and Zambia spoke to how they are taking vital steps to better understand nature-related climate risks, ensuring that the protection and restoration of critical ecosystems are properly accounted for in ensuring financial stability and contributing to economic prosperity. Meanwhile Prime Minister Marin of Finland reflected on the work of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate in this space, and how it is designed to both manage the economic and financial risks of nature loss and to unlock opportunities for investment.

Mark Carney recalled a Statement on Deforestation Financing from the Co-Chairs and Vice Chair of Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) which urged members of the alliance with USD $135 trillion in assets under management, to embed tackling deforestation into their transition planning by developing policies to identify and curtail financing of such activities, and to scale forest positive investment.

Leading financial institutions from Japan to Norway to Brazil are demonstrating that it is possible to do this. Signatories of the Commitment on Eliminating Commodity-driven Deforestation have been moving forward with implementation as the Finance Sector Deforestation Action (FSDA) initiative. FSDA members have published shared investor expectations (pdf, 49.5 KB) for companies, are stepping up engagement activity and working with policymakers and data providers. New members joining FSDA in 2022 include SouthBridge Group whose CEO, Frannie Léautier, announced that they were the first African financial institution to join the initiative alongside Banco Estado de Chile, London CIV and GAM Investments.

Governments participating in the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue, represent over 75% of global trade in key commodities that can threaten forests. The FACT Dialogue Progress Report is a renewal of the commitment of these largest producer and consumer countries to working together to achieve shared goals and promote sustainable development and trader, while protecting forests and other critical ecosystems.

14 of the largest agricultural commodity trading companies managing major global shares on key forest-risk commodities, shared their joint roadmap for increased supply chain action across the palm oil, soy and cattle sectors.

List of members of the Forest and Climate Leader’s Partnership

1. Commonwealth of Australia
2. Canada
3. Republic of Colombia
4. Republic of Congo
5. Republic of Costa Rica
6. Republic of Ecuador
7. European Union
8. Republic of Finland
9. Republic of Fiji
10. French Republic
11. Gabon
12. Federal Republic of Germany
13. Republic of Ghana
14. Republic of Guyana
15. Republic of Indonesia (is especially considering joining the FCLP[2])
16. Japan
17. Republic of Kenya
18. Republic of Korea
19. Kingdom of the Netherlands
20. Federal Republic of Nigeria
21. Kingdom of Norway
22. Islamic Republic of Pakistan
23. Republic of Singapore
24. Kingdom of Sweden
25. United Republic of Tanzania
26. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
27. United States of America
28. Vietnam

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[1] NB other new commitments made at the event layered throughout this summary including &Green, SouthBridge Investments, New Joiners to LEAF.

[2] Indonesia is especially considering joining the FCLP and to serve on the Steering Committee. This builds upon the strong platform established by separate MoUs and bilateral climate partnerships between Indonesia and the USA, Norway and UK to support Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 Operational Plan.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 21 November 2022.

• Prime Minister announces new medal to honour the service of veterans of Britain’s nuclear tests on ‘plutonium anniversary’
• 22,000 veterans are expected to be eligible for the new honour, marking their service and contribution to the United Kingdom’s nuclear test programme.
• Comes as veterans and their families gather at the National Memorial Arboretum today to pay tribute to nuclear heroes, who have kept the country safe for 70 years

A new medal is to honour the significant contribution of veterans and civilian staff from across the Commonwealth, who participated in Britain’s nuclear testing programme, the Prime Minister will announce today.

The award comes as the country pays tribute to the veterans of the United Kingdom’s nuclear test programme at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire this morning.

The event, which takes place 70 years after the first British test of a nuclear weapon, will be attended by the Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary and Veterans’ Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer.

Service personnel, veterans and their families, and representatives from military charities will also attend.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

I am incredibly proud that we are able to mark the service and dedication of our nuclear test veterans with this new medal. Their commitment and service has preserved peace for the past 70 years, and it is only right their contribution to our safety, freedom and way of life is appropriately recognised with this honour.

This medal is an enduring symbol of our country’s gratitude to each and every person who played a part in this effort and their loved ones who supported them.

The veterans and civilians who participated in the United Kingdom’s nuclear test programme, the first of which was known as Op Hurricane, made the UK the third nuclear power. This work contributed to achieving the nuclear deterrent – the ultimate guarantee of UK sovereignty which continues to keep us safe today, and helps guarantee international security.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer said:

This medal honours those who served far from home, at a crucial time in our nation’s history.

To this day the nuclear deterrent remains the cornerstone of our defence, and that is only because of the service and contribution of the brilliant veterans and civilian personnel.

It’s right that we mark this contribution today, 70 years on from Britain’s first nuclear test.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

I am delighted that a commemorative medal can be given to our Nuclear Test Veterans, who have made an invaluable contribution to the safety and security of the UK, and who we recognise and value for their enduring service to our nation.

The Nuclear Test Medal will be a commemorative medal that can be worn by recipients.

The medal also recognises the contribution made by veterans and civilians from across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Kiribati. All service personnel and civilians under UK command, including close partners from the Commonwealth and Pacific region, who participated in, or were present at, the British or American nuclear tests at the Montebello Islands, Christmas Island, Malden Island and Maralinga & Emu Field, South Australia between 1952 and 1967 will be eligible for the medal. This also includes scientists and local employees..

It is estimated that around 22,000 veterans will be eligible for medallic recognition.

The medal can be awarded posthumously. Veterans, their families and next of kin will need to apply for the medal, which will be free of charge. It is expected that the first awards of the medals will be made in 2023.

To further recognise the contribution of veterans of Britain’s nuclear tests, the government is investing £450,000 into projects which will commemorate and build further understanding of the experiences of veterans who were deployed to Australia and the Pacific.

As part of that funding, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs is launching an oral history project to chronicle the voices and experiences of those who supported the UK’s effort to develop a nuclear deterrent.

Due to start in April 2023 the project will run for two years, giving nuclear test veterans the opportunity to be interviewed, and contribute to an accessible digital archive of testimonies about their time working on the tests.