Leaked memo says UK government to abandon climate and nature funding pledge

A leaked briefing note has suggested that the UK government may abandon its £11.6 billion climate and nature funding pledge, drawing widespread criticism that the prime minister is betraying populations most vulnerable to global warming.

The Guardian reported that the memo said the government will drop its contribution to meeting the global $100bn (£78.6bn) a year commitment to developing countries.

It said: “Our commitment to double our international climate finance to £11.6bn was made in 2019, when we were still at 0.7 [% of GDP spent on international aid] and pre-Covid,” adding that to meet it by the deadline would be a “huge challenge” because of new pressures, including help for Ukraine being included in the aid budget.

Last week, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said that the UK had lost its position as a global leader on climate action and was not doing enough to meet its mid-century net zero target. It claimed that the nation is falling behind on improving energy efficiency in buildings, rolling out heat pumps, and curbing emissions from industry.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s climate policies also came under fire after former international environment minister Zac Goldsmith resigned, saying that Sunak was “uninterested” in environmental issues. He said Britain had “visibly stepped off the world stage and withdrawn our leadership on climate and nature.”

The government has refuted the Guardian’s claims, with a spokesperson saying: “The government remains committed to spending 11.6 billion pounds on international climate finance and we are delivering on that pledge.”

Meanwhile, the Met Office revealed that the UK had the hottest June on record last month, with climate change driving extreme weather events.

Image credit: <a href=”https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_President_of_Ukraine_met_with_the_British_Prime_Minister_in_Kyiv._(52510105891).jpg”>President Of Ukraine from Україна</a>, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons