PHOTO: Claire Perry, the UK energy minister,
The UK has announced funding of over £160 million to help countries transition to cleaner, greener energy systems and support communities affected by climate change.
£60 million of technical assistance to share the UK’s world leading expertise on energy market reform, transition to clean growth, green finance and climate legislation.
£94.5 million focused on mitigating the effects of climate change would provide direct support to families most affected by droughts in Northern Kenya, as part of the government’s Kenya’s Hunger Safety Net Programme which will then transition to full government of Kenya ownership and funding.
£15 million will make it more profitable for companies to buy from smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, helping to build resilience against rising food demand and climate shocks
The UK is a world-leader on clean growth and green finance and is pioneering efforts to build greater resilience to climate change. It has cut emissions by more than 40 per cent since 1990 – more than any other G7 country on a per person basis – and its legally-binding targets will see emissions fall by an average of 57% over the period 2028 to 2032 and at least 80% by 2050 from 1990 levels.
The UK is committed to sharing its expertise and help developing countries in the global challenge of tackling climate change. The government has committed at least £5.8 billion of funding between 2016 and 2020 to help developing countries both reduce emissions and build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Energy and Clean Growth Minister, Claire Perry said, “We were one of the first countries to recognise the challenge and huge economic opportunities of the global shift to a greener, cleaner economy – putting clean growth at the heart of our Industrial Strategy.”
Perry further said, “Now we want to share our world-leading expertise with developing countries. This £60 million programme could provide the boost they need to begin their own clean growth movements, building economies fit for the future.”
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said, “When drought strikes in the developing world, it is the most vulnerable communities which are hit the hardest by damage to livestock and crops. I witnessed earlier this year in northern Kenya how the swift support of UK aid and our partners helped households, which would otherwise be at risk of sliding deeper into poverty.”
The UK will lead global efforts to mitigate and respond to the effects of climate change protecting food, water and jobs for the future, and building resilience to cut the impact and cost of natural disasters.
It is well placed to offer this expert advice and support in cutting carbon emissions as a global leader in tackling climate change, playing a vital role in negotiating the Paris Agreement.
The UK was also the first country to introduce domestic legally binding emission reduction targets and has reinforced this commitment by joining the Carbon Neutrality Coalition, an initiative led by New Zealand and the Marshall Islands that will promote long-term planning and ambitious action in support of the Paris Agreement’s collective goals of net-zero global emissions by the second half of this century.
There are huge opportunities to work with like-minded countries to affect global change while building on UK expertise. The UK is a leading country behind the move to incentivise green finance, securing approval to develop new international standards on the subject of Sustainable Finance this week.
The announcement of the establishment of a new Sustainable Finance ISO Technical Committee, led by a UK secretariat provided by the British Standards Institution, comes a week ahead of the launch of the UK’s first ever Green GB Week, raising awareness of the need and economic opportunities of reducing emissions.
On Monday 15 October, the government will launch the first Green GB week. This will be a week of events and announcements across the UK designed to promote the opportunities that come from clean growth and raise awareness of how businesses and the public can contribute to tackling climate change.
