OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum 2024: UK statement

Madam Chair,

Unlike last year, we meet today in Prague under the official auspices of the OSCE. It is important that the full range of mandated meetings across the OSCE's comprehensive concept of security, are allowed to take place.

Last year Russia chose to block the consensus needed to hold this event. Though we welcome our being able to convene like this, some things have not changed. Russia continues its illegal invasion of Ukrainian sovereign territory and Russian troops continue to occupy Ukrainian land.

Sustainable development and climate adaptation - the topics of this year's forum - are just two casualties of Russia's war. The effects of Russia's war have stretched across the global economy. This has cost Ukraine in particular - to the tune of almost half a trillion dollars - but has also cost the aggressor billions of dollars and the rest of the world considerable hardship through disruption to supply chains, inflation and general increases to the cost of living.

As this group well knows, it is not just economic development that has been affected. Last year's Chatham House report said the war risks putting climate action on the backburner and complicates the multilateral action needed to avert dangerous climate change and to adapt to its impacts.

Russia must be held to account for its actions. The UK is proud to have been able to support the OSCE's project on assessing the environmental damage of Russia's war in Ukraine. We encourage all delegates to attend the side event later today on that research.

Madam Chair, at home, the new UK Government unveiled a new 1.5 billion pound budget to help build new green infrastructure as part of the mission to deliver clean power by 2030. The UK will aid economic development by joining the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty's Board of Champions, contributing our global network of development organisations. And the UK's new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act will establish new, faster, more effective tools to address the unique barriers to competition in digital markets.

I would like to thank the Maltese Chairpersonship and the Office of the Co-ordinator of Economic and Environment activities for organising this event, and our Czech colleagues for hosting us. My team and I look forward to the discussions to come.

Thank you.

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