NEW YORK – The UK Department for International Trade (DIT), alongside the City of London Corporation, the Investment Association, and the Green Finance Institute, announced today that after a highly competitive recruitment process, 11 UK-headquartered FinTech companies specializing in ESG and sustainability were chosen to join a virtual trade delegation to New York Climate Week starting September 20th.

This group of fintechs, which includes 2RSquared, All Street Research, Amplyfi, Arabesque Group, Carbon Trade Exchange, corfinancial, Net Purpose, OakNorth, Solidatus, Tumelo, and Urgentem, have developed groundbreaking new products and services that are already helping companies, investors, consumers, and regulators around the world overcome key challenges in ESG adoption. DIT looks forward to showcasing these solutions, and more, during the mission.

This trade mission comes at a critical moment as US financial services firms scramble to upgrade their capabilities, tools, and products to meet the growing demand for environmental, social, and governance conscious investment strategies. One in 3 dollars invested in the US, or $17 trillion in AUM, already falls within an ESG or sustainability mandate and that number will only continue to rise. Outside of investment, the financial industry is also expected to play a key role in helping the world achieve net-zero, enabling climate action, and ensuring universal access to services, all of which can be aided by new technology.

Kunal Khatri, Her Majesty’s Acting Trade Commissioner for the US said:

The UK has been at the heart of global financial services innovation for decades, and as we lead up to the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, UK companies are poised to play an even greater part in driving ESG and sustainability across the financial industry. Fintech in particular will have a crucial role to play in achieving net-zero by spurring green innovation and expertise into sustainable investments, by providing companies with better tools to measure and mitigate their climate impact, and by giving consumers the information they need to make more informed decisions. The UK has world leading talent, technology and businesses with an enormous amount to offer to the US market we are excited to bring this delegation of cutting-edge technology firms to New York Climate Week.

To deliver this program, DIT has partnered with the City of London, the Investment Association, and the Green Finance Institute.

In discussing the Mission, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, William Russell said:

The City of London Corporation is delighted to partner with DIT on this mission. The UK is a fintech powerhouse with UK fintechs raising a record-shattering $24.5bn of investment in the first 6 months of this year alone. The City of London Corporation has long played an active role in helping to scale up the UK’s fintech sector by bringing together our existing strengths in financial services with burgeoning tech expertise across the country. As the world faces up climate change it has never been more important to discuss the role that tech can play in sustainable development for financial institutions.

US firms interested in learning more about the mission, the participating fintechs, and how to get involved are encouraged to contact hayden.boilini@mobile.trade.gov.uk.

For media enquiries, contact: Natalie Mclaughlin British Embassy Washington Natalie.Mclaughlin@fcdo.gov.uk

About the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT)

DIT helps businesses export, drives inward and outward investment, negotiates market access and trade deals, and champions free trade. We are an international economic department, responsible for:

• supporting and encouraging UK businesses to drive sustainable international growth
• ensuring the UK remains a leading destination for international investment and maintains its number one position for international investment stock in Europe
• opening markets, building a trade framework with new and existing partners which is free and fair
• using trade and investment to underpin the government’s agenda for a Global Britain and its ambitions for prosperity, stability and security worldwide

Mr President, thank you for convening this important debate.

Two years on from its territorial defeat, Daesh remains a significant global threat. The recent attacks in Baghdad and the continuing violence in Syria provide further tragic evidence of that fact.

So we welcome the Secretary General’s report on the threat posed by Daesh. I would like to thank Under-Secretary-General Voronkov, Executive Director Coninsx and Dr. Moradian – particularly for his moving presentation – for their briefings. We are also indebted to the UN Monitoring Team, UNOCT and CTED for their important work in analysing this threat.

The UK’s position in countering Daesh is very clear. We remain an active and committed member of the Global Coalition against Daesh. We are a co-leader of the Coalition’s counter-propaganda effort and we host the Counter Daesh Communications Cell in the UK.

We continue to provide significant humanitarian and stabilisation support to those liberated areas of Iraq and Syria.

We also continue to facilitate the return of unaccompanied or orphan children on a case-by-case basis and subject to national security concerns.

However, we remain clear that those who have fought for or supported Daesh should face justice for their crimes in the most appropriate jurisdiction. Often that will be the region where those crimes were committed.

While it is vital that we focus on the immediate threats Daesh pose, we must also work together to tackle the long-term drivers of terrorism. That’s why the UK recently announced an additional £2.6 million of funding to support stabilisation in North East Syria.

We must also remain alive to the rising threat in other geographies. What is happening now in Afghanistan is a tragedy. We will remain vigilant to the return of the terrorist threat from Afghanistan. We all share an interest in making sure Afghanistan does not again become a safe-haven for terrorists.

The threat continues to grow in sub-Saharan Africa and we are providing security, stabilisation and humanitarian assistance in many affected countries to help them tackle the threat, build stability and support affected communities.

Meanwhile, Daesh continues its attempts to incite and recruit supporters around the world, particularly using social media and encrypted online platforms. Terrorism is global, and it requires a global response.

Multilateral cooperation lies at the heart of that global response. At the UN level, we welcome the continued efforts of the UNOCT, CTED and other UN agencies in supporting states to tackle it.

At the same time, we must be agile in recognising other new and emerging threats, including the use and misuse of new technologies. We should continue efforts to counter terrorist financing and extreme Right-Wing terrorism, and to prevent terrorist misuse of the internet.

Finally, we believe it is important to bring our values to this effort.

When countering terrorism, we must all ensure that we protect and promote human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. We must integrate a gender sensitive and whole of society approach into our efforts.

In this way, we would uphold the very principles on which the UN was founded.

Mr President, the UK will remain steadfast in the global fight against terrorism and violent extremism. We will continue to stand up for our shared values and interests. And we will continue to work with our partners and through the multilateral system to that end.
Thank you.

• Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid has officially opened a cancer hospital in Carlisle to make one of the biggest combined cancer treatment services in the country
• The £35 million Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria, integrates cancer diagnosis and treatment across Cumbria, with a chemotherapy day unit, plus radiotherapy and CT scanners
• The centre is the first hospital to open as part of the government’s commitment to deliver 48 hospitals by 2030, backed by an initial £3.7 billion

Thousands of patients in Cumbria are set to benefit from state-of-the-art cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care – housed in the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle – which was officially opened by the Health Secretary Sajid Javid today (Thursday 19 August).

Last year, the government announced details of 40 new hospitals to be built by 2030, the largest hospital building programme in a generation. Together with eight schemes which secured investment through the previous government, of which this hospital is one, this will mean 48 hospitals in total will be delivered by the end of the decade.

The £35 million facility visited by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care today will be used by patients from across north, west and east Cumbria, making it one of the biggest combined cancer treatment services in the country.

The hospital brings new, cutting-edge services under one roof in north Cumbria for the first time including a chemotherapy day unit, radiotherapy machines and a CT scanner as well as outpatients, consultation and examination rooms. The new facilities means most adult cancer patients in Cumbria will be able to receive care close to home, rather than having to travel.

The Health Secretary toured the hospital, spoke to frontline staff and patients and officially opened the new facilities.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid said:

I am incredibly honoured to open this cancer hospital in Carlisle, which will support thousands of people by bringing these vital services under one roof, as part of our commitment to deliver 48 hospitals by 2030, backed by an initial £3.7 billion.

Cancer diagnosis and treatment is a top priority and I am committed to tackling the backlogs caused by this pandemic.

The NHS is here for everyone and I look forward to seeing how the hospital will help to diagnose and treat cancer patients across Cumbria by levelling up cancer care in the region.

The hospital welcomed its first patients last week, and expects to receive 1,200 new patients a year in addition to the 2,000 patients already set to receive treatment or follow-up care at the new centre. The expert team expects to deliver 11,500 radiotherapy treatments, 8,000 chemotherapy treatments and 4,000 supportive therapy treatments annually.

The government’s commitment to deliver 48 hospitals includes three dedicated cancer hospitals which will provide better care for patients, an improved working environment for staff and help the NHS reach its net zero carbon ambition.

The commitment forms part of the Health Infrastructure Plan, a strategic long-term investment to ensure the NHS and those working in it have the world-class facilities they need for the future.

Each local hospital will learn from best practice with advice from national experts so they will be amongst the best in country.

Dame Jackie Daniel, Chief Executive, Newcastle Hospitals said:

I’m delighted that we have been able to bring the Northern Centre for Cancer Care to North Cumbria so that local people can benefit from high quality, safe and sustainable services.

This £35 million investment will bring specialist services closer to the homes of the 2,000 patients each year, many of whom would previously have needed to travel to Newcastle for care.

I’m very proud of the whole team for delivering such high quality services, and for their tireless work throughout the pandemic to continue providing outstanding care.

The government is committed to ensuring the NHS gets the support it needs. An additional £6.6 billion was recently announced to support the next phase of the NHS response to COVID-19, including £594 million to continue the hospital discharge programme, enabling patients to leave hospital as quickly and as safely as possible. £1 billion has also been committed to help kickstart recovery and begin addressing backlogs and tackle long waits. This brings the total package of additional support given to our health services for COVID-19 to £92 billion, with £63 billion for 2020/21 and £29 billion for 2021/22.

Services at the centre will be run by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as part of the Northern Centre for Cancer Care, which also has a site in Newcastle.

• The ‘Our NHS Buildings’ website is the official home of the government’s major NHS infrastructure projects across the country, including new hospital builds and upgrades
• The government has opened the selection process for eight of the 40 new hospitals: