asked Her Majesty’s Government:

What results were obtained from the recent European Union-Latin America summit in Lima, Peru, on 16 May.

My Lords, the summit made progress on several UK objectives. It raised regional awareness of the need for action on climate change and its impact on poverty. It launched a co-operation programme between the two regions on climate change. It helped to generate renewed momentum on the millennium development goals in advance of the September UN meeting and it was an opportunity to press for intensified co-operation on drugs.

My Lords, that is a very encouraging reply. The delegation led by the Leader of the House has obviously been a great success. In view of her first ever visit to Latin America—I hope she will return frequently—can I prevail on her to use her new-found enthusiasm to persuade her Cabinet colleagues that they ought to take Latin America a little more seriously than they have in the past few years and to stop closing down some embassies, down-grading others, virtually eliminating the British Council effort there and generally taking us back to where we were some years ago?

My Lords, the noble Viscount, to whom I pay tribute for the incredible way in which he has kept this region on the agenda in your Lordships’ House and, indeed, for the Government for a very long time—he was instrumental in my going on that trip and I did indeed return enthusiastic—will know that I do not quite accept his analysis of the response of the Government. We are doing a lot of work in the region, not least in our development assistance, which has increased; in the work with organisations in different parts of the region; and in the support we gave through the summit and through other measures.

My Lords, I declare an interest as president of the Peru Support Group. I thank the noble Baroness for her reply to a letter from the group sent before the summit asking it to address matters such as inequalities of wealth and income, damage caused to certain communities by mining developments, and the climate change problem that she mentioned. On that point, is it generally recognised now that the Andean glaciers will disappear by 2050, according to authorities such as the Stern report, which means that very serious problems as regards drinking water will arise in major urban centres, not only in Lima, but in places including La Paz, and what has been done by the summit to address that problem?

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Stern, provided a video for the summit which I did not see in the group I was in, but which I know was very well received. It tried to tackle some of the issues that the noble Lord has raised. There is more general acceptance of the point that he raised. The whole point of the UK intervention was to get an understanding of the link between climate change and poverty and to start to address some of the basic facts of life; for example, the drinking water issue that there will certainly be in that region.

My Lords, the summit which was, of course, attended by the Leader of the House with amazing celerity and vigour between EU debates, was dominated by the terrifying question of soaring food prices and food shortages. Was a clear link established at that gathering between the switch of farm crops from food to biofuels and food prices? Was a distinction made between energy-efficient biofuels made from cane sugar which come from Brazil, and the biofuels produced by corn farmers in America and Europe, which are energy-inefficient and are undermining food prices? Was any agreement in sight from the EU side that it would abandon the very demanding commitment to an increase in biofuels for all our energy use over the coming years, which appears to be adding to the problems of food prices?

My Lords, during the summit, the two regions agreed that they wanted to encourage more sustainable patterns of consumption and production and to make sure that we exchange experiences on biofuels technology. The noble Lord knows that the issues surrounding food prices concern not just biofuels but bad weather, low stocks, restrictions on trade by exporting countries and increasing prices for oil, fertilisers and other inputs. However, we accept that sustainable biofuels have a role to play. This was one of the features of the summit, as the noble Lord would expect. As far as the EU is concerned, we will have to await developments. The Prime Minister has made certain that they will be carefully examined in the light of the results of the review which is under way.

My Lords, can I reassure my noble friend that there are some of us on her Benches who share the noble Viscount’s interest in Latin America? I invite anyone else who would like to do so to come to Room 4A at five o’clock tomorrow afternoon when His Excellency Carlos Morales Troncoso, the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic, will be the guest of the Dominican-UK All-Party Group, of which I have the honour to be president.

My Lords, I have nothing to add to the advertisement.

My Lords, the Lord President mentioned drugs in her initial response. Was the contribution to Colombia’s travails by President Uribe recognised and, if so, what further support was agreed to?

My Lords, there was recognition. In fact, my honourable friend Kim Howells and I had a bilateral meeting with President Uribe of Colombia in which we covered a range of issues: climate change, poverty, human rights and drugs co-operation. The president was keen to highlight the developments that have taken place in Colombia, which he is very proud of, but he recognises there is much more to do. This is an important part of his contribution to the summit debate.

My Lords, my question relates to the removal of DfID staff and DfID activities from many South American countries. My particular interest is in Peru; I understand that it is now, technically speaking, an average-income country, but there are, nevertheless, very poor people living in the mountain regions. What help can DfID staff from, say, Bolivia give in those regions?

My Lords, DfID is organised to enable support and help to be given, but I do not want noble Lords to think that we were not investing in the region with the support that development assistance is giving. The funding in the region will increase from £84 million in 2007-08 to £97 million in 2010-11. As the noble Baroness indicates, staff are working collaboratively.