Theme: Trade and Sustainable Development

During the course of the bilateral exchange, both delegations reiterated the importance of the UK and Panamanian relationship and the need for collaboration at a time when we are confronted with global challenges that affect everyone.

UK exchange with counterparts in Panama highlights common interests for both countries

On 20 October, BGIPU convened a virtual bilateral meeting between UK and Panamanian Parliamentarians. The discussion was moderated by BGIPU Executive Member, Mark Menzies MP, and was attended on the UK side by Baroness D’Souza, Baroness Hooper, Catherine West MP, Lord Dholakia and Lord Mountevans. The newly appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Panama, Mr Tim […]

The roundtable chaired by Tim Loughton MP allowed MPs and Peers to learn directly from those on the ground about the grave nature of the famine which has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

MPs/Peers hear from WFP & HMA on climate-induced famine in Madagascar

On 20 October, BGIPU convened a roundtable in collaboration with WFP on the climate-induced famine in Madagascar. On the panel were four very knowledgeable speakers: Mr David Ashley, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Madagascar; Ms Elisabeth Faure, WFP UK Director; Ms Pasqualina Disirio, WFP Head of Country Delegation; and Mr Arduino Mangoni, WFP’s Head of Programmes […]

The IPU is co-organizing a Pre-COP26 Parliamentary Meeting in Rome on 8-9 October 2021 with the Italian Parliament, as part of a series of pre-COP26 events hosted by Italy.

This is how parliaments have taken legislative action against climate change

At the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, Ms. Xiye Bastida, an 18-year-old climate activist from Mexico, had a message for the parliamentarians present: “The climate crisis is generational injustice. And you have the power to develop smart, just and holistic legislation.” This was a call for all parliamentarians to act, and to act now, […]

The Pre-COP Parliamentary Meeting in Rome is targeted at parliamentarians affiliated with climate and environment-related committees is taking place at the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome.

Pre-COP26 Parliamentary Meeting sees IPU members convene in Rome

The IPU is co-organizing a Pre-COP26 Parliamentary Meeting in Rome, Italy on 8-9 October 2021 with the Italian Parliament as part of a series of pre-COP26 events hosted by Italy, followed by the Parliamentary Meeting at COP26 in Glasgow, co-organized with the British Group of the IPU on 7 November 2021.  The Pre-COP Parliamentary Meeting […]

Fishing under photovoltaic panels. He Huawen / Imaginechina via AFP

IPU and Indonesia host first global parliamentary meeting on achieving the SDGs

Some 70 parliaments representing all the regions of the world attended the First Global Parliamentary Meeting on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Turning the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic into opportunities for parliaments to achieve the SDGs this week. The IPU and the House of Representatives of Indonesia organized the three-day virtual event from 28-30 […]

The meeting began with discussions concerning the impact of climate change and the road to COP26 as Madagascar faces climate-induced famine after a shortage of rainfall for the last four years.

Key exchange with Madagascar counterparts in advance of COP26

On 20 September 2021, BGIPU hosted a virtual bilateral meeting with Members of the National Assembly in Madagascar. The meeting was chaired by Tim Loughton MP, who had previously led a BGIPU delegation out to Madagascar in 2017. He was joined by Alex Sobel MP, Baroness Sheehan, Baroness Walmsley, Lord Thomas and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Madagascar, David Ashley. […]

IPU President, Duarte Pacheco said “Over the past year, we have seen how governments have used the pandemic as a pretext to roll back human rights and weaken democracy.

World Conference of Speakers adopts declaration for more effective global solidarity

The world’s top legislators gathered in Vienna, Austria this week for the first major in-person international parliamentary meeting in over 18 months. The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament brought together close to 100 Speakers from some 115 national parliaments and the heads of over a dozen regional and other parliamentary organizations. Afghanistan, climate change and […]

Over 110 Speakers of Parliament from around the world are expected to come to Vienna for the first physical large-scale inter-parliamentary meeting since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

World Conference of Speakers of Parliament to meet in person in Vienna on 7-8 September

The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, the world’s largest gathering of the highest level of parliamentary representation, will take place in Vienna, Austria on 7-8 September. Organized jointly by the IPU and the Austrian Parliament, in cooperation with the United Nations, this in-person segment of the conference follows a virtual session held in August 2020. […]

Forest fires in Turkey August 2021 ©Omer Kundakci / Anadolu Agency via AFP

Specialised IPU resources will help parliamentarians fight climate change

The recently published sixth report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a wake-up call for parliamentarians the world over. Eight years in the making, and drawing on the work of hundreds of experts and scientific studies, the report confirms that humans are unequivocally the cause of climate change, and worse, it is occurring […]

On 7 July BGIPU and Canning House co-hosted the second of its virtual Latin America roundtables receiving briefings from Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Peru, HE Kate Harrisson, and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Mexico, HE Corin Robertson.

MPs/Peers hear about developments in Mexico and Peru from UK Ambassadors

On 7 July BGIPU and Canning House co-hosted the second of its virtual Latin America roundtables to mark this year’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Leadership Week. The meeting was chaired by BGIPU Executive Committee Member and Latin America APPG Chair, Mark Menzies MP, with discussion moderated by BGIPU Executive Committee Member and Latin America […]