UK’s £1.44bn aid bill to make world greener
BRITAIN will double the amount of money it spends on cutting carbon emissions in the developing world over the next four years after crunch talks at the G7 summit.
A total of £1.44billion from the aid budget and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be spent on tackling climate change, including wildfires.
This is up from the UK’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) contribution of £720million between 2014 and 2019, it was announced yesterday.
It came as the G7 agreed to spend £18million on the Amazon, mainly to send fire-fighting planes to tackle the huge blazes engulfing the world’s biggest rainforest.
The club also agreed to support a medium-term reforestation plan which will be unveiled at the UN in September, France and Chile announced.
US President Donald Trump, who has described climate change as a hoax, skipped meetings on the subject at the G7 summit in Biarritz.
Carrie Symonds, the girlfriend of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said she felt ‘real pain’ looking at images of the fire in the Amazon rainforest last week.
The GCF fund supports projects to protect and preserve natural habitats in the developing world, including in the Amazon – where fires continue to rage.
It also helps projects that reduce emissions and help people adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The UK is doubling support to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of efforts to help meet the global targets set in Paris.
‘Investment in preparedness’
International Development Secretary Alok Sharma said: ‘The World Bank estimates 100million people are at risk of being pushed into poverty by 2030 if action isn’t taken to tackle climate change.
‘This is a global problem that requires a global solution. Doubling the UK’s contribution to the world’s largest fund dedicated to tackling climate change will enable more investment in prevention and preparedness, and lever further private sector finance so we can achieve our climate change goals.’
Speaking at the summit, Mr Johnson said the UK would see ‘a very active environmentalist administration, protecting habitat, protecting bio diversity but reducing CO2 and reducing climate change emissions from technological progress’.
Business and Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom said: ‘I am delighted that the UK is leading the world in a fight against climate change.’
It is estimated that GCF projects will help 300million people cope with the effects of climate change and take the equivalent of 1.5billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Brazil will have to agree to any reforestation plan after yesterday’s announcement at the G7.
French president Emmanuel Macron had made the issue one of the summit’s priorities.
He threatened to block a trade deal between the EU and Latin America unless Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic, takes serious steps to protect the Amazon.