The Steering Committee meeting was held in Brussels in the European Parliament, who co-host the Parliamentary Conference with the IPU. The prime purpose of the Meeting was to prepare for the Bali Ministerial Conference in early December 2013.
BGIPU and the FCO co-hosted a roundtable discussion between parliamentarians and visiting UK Heads of Mission on 16 May under the chairmanship of FCO Minister, Hugo Swire MP. The discussion focused on efforts by the UK Government to strengthen bilateral relationships with key emerging powers in order to expand opportunities for the UK. There was detailed consideration of the important role parliamentarians could play in ensuring the UK was well-positioned to take better advantage of the opportunities such fast growing economies present.
The 128th IPU Assembly in Quito, Ecuador from 22 to 27 March 2013 was attended by more than 1350 participants from over 118 parliaments. The UK delegation was prominent and active throughout the Assembly, including as a member of the Emergency Item Drafting Committee, as moderators of panel discussions, in detailed Committee work and in a range of targeted bilateral exchanges.
BGIPU convened a roundtable discussion on 13 March to discuss multilateral trade with a specific focus on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the role of Parliaments. The meeting heard perspectives from Lord Harrison and Baroness Hooper who represented the BGIPU at the 2012 session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO in Geneva held 15-16 November 2012 which was jointly organized by the IPU and the European Parliament.
From tourism and tax reform to wealth distribution and from new global trading relationships to diversifying from agriculture, the BGIPU delegation, led by the Vice Chair of the BGIPU visited the Legislative Assemblies of Costa Rica and El Salvador to learn about both countries’ broader geopolitical priorities
On 30 January in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, Hugh Bayley MP joined senior parliamentary colleagues from Liberia, Bangladesh and Uganda in a roundtable discussion to convey to the post-2015 High Level Panel the IPU’s perspectives on the importance of democratic governance, particularly the role to be played by parliaments, in determining any future international development goals.
In addition to the primary role as a member of the IPU delegation to meet the UNSG’s High Level panel on post-2015 Global Development goals, Hugh Bayley MP also had the opportunity to have a number of other meetings during my visit to Liberia which provide valuable insight into the current situation in Liberia, including UK interests in the country.
A special roundtable hosted by IPU in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on 30th January attended by a UN-appointed high-level panel and MPs from around the world concluded that democracy and democratic governance should be at the heart of a new international development agenda.
A round table discussion was held in Monrovia on 30 January 2013 between parliamentarians and members of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons established by the UN Secretary-General to formulate a broad vision for the post 2015 development agenda.
The two week long climate talks in Doha came to a close on 8 December with 194 countries agreeing to implement a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, from 2013 through 2020. The Doha round of talks mark the beginning of a transition to a new global climate change regime that will come into effect from 2020 and include within its ambit all countries. The BGIPU held a lecture to discuss: Good COP / Bad COP: Parliamentary Perspectives from COP18.
