More than 90 UK civil society organisations from environment, international development, education, trade union, disability inclusion, trade, humanitarian, business, and faith groups have written to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today to demand that he keeps his promise on climate finance.
Catherine Pettengell, Executive Director of Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) the organisation that coordinated the letter, said:
“Today’s letter from 92 civil society organisations in the UK demonstrates the strength and breadth of support for UK climate finance. This government must not turn its back on countries and communities least responsible for the climate crisis but suffering its worst impacts. True leadership means taking responsibility for the UK’s historical emissions and the wealth that has been generated and giving back fairly, to secure a better future for everyone.”
In response to recent claims that the UK government has “effectively abandoned” its commitment to provide £11.6bn climate finance between April 2021 and March 2026, civil society groups are calling for the government to fulfil its commitment and urgently demonstrate how it will be met.
“Given recent reports that the FCDO would find it a “huge challenge” to meet the commitment within current budgets, we need more than empty promises from the Prime Minister, we need a concrete and transparent plan as to how the commitment will be met in full and on time, and in a way that does not come at a cost to other important ODA priorities,” said Ms Pettengell.
Katie White, Executive Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at WWF-UK, said:
“Failure to invest in climate action now is the definition of a false economy. The future health of our planet should not come down to horse-trading between Government departments but should be the driving purpose of all parts of government.
“This further undermines the UK’s reputation as a strong leader on climate and nature, in the same week as global temperature records were broken and the Government’s own climate watchdog found that commitments are going backwards and ambition is plummeting.
“We urgently need our leaders to recognise nature is in crisis and to deliver on the nature and climate promises made to bring our world back to life.”
Sophie Rigg, Head of Policy and Research, Climate and Humanitarian, ActionAid UK, said:
“That the Prime Minister is considering reneging on our climate finance commitment lays bare the UK’s lack of integrity and failure to act as a global leader on climate, just two years after hosting COP26. Sticking your head in the sand and willing climate change away is a deadly mistake, we must fight this crisis with finance and brave leadership. Breaking this commitment to spend £11.6 billion on slowing climate change and adapting the planet to its impacts is an enormous breach of trust for the countries already facing the devastating consequences of the climate crisis.
The UK has reaped financial rewards from its high-polluting economy over the past century and has a historical responsibility to address climate change. Instead of taking much-needed development and humanitarian funds, we need new and additional climate finance that recognise the scale of this crisis.
At a time when trust in global climate negotiations is at an all-time low, the UK’s failure to keep its promises is putting the entire future of the COP process at risk”
Sophie Powell, Christian Aid’s Chief of UK Advocacy, said:
“This is a desperately short-sighted and shameful betrayal of those facing the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Breaking our long-held promises and tearing up years of agreed climate diplomacy are the actions of a reckless Government.
“Climate finance is not a handout, but a debt we owe to vulnerable countries for the damage we have caused through burning fossil fuels. It is not aid and should never have come from the aid budget in the first place.
“A UK government that wants to be taken seriously by global South countries, which is essential to keeping global climate talks on track, will need to rebuild the country’s climate credibility by mobilising additional public finance to meet our international climate obligations, whilst accelerating the journey to net zero at home. Taxing polluters would be the best place to start.”
Champa Patel, Executive Director of Government and Policy at Climate Group, said:
“It’s absolutely crucial that Rishi Sunak sticks to the £11.6 billion in climate finance pledged in Glasgow less than two years ago. Climate finance is not just a moral obligation, it’s an essential catalyst for global climate action. Rather than withdrawing money promised to communities on the climate frontline, the UK Government should be focused on meeting its net zero targets, accelerating the shift to renewables and urgently phasing out fossil fuels.
Alistair Dutton, CEO of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), said:
“I strongly urge the Prime Minister to urgently affirm that the international climate finance targets will not be reduced or delayed.
“Reneging on this long-standing commitment would send a signal to the world that the UK cannot be trusted to do its part on climate change. It will enrage governments in the Global South who rely on this money to develop greener economies, and is also a betrayal of the UK’s allies in the Global North who know climate finance is needed to achieve the Paris Agreement.”
Tearfund’s Head of Advocacy, Paul Cook, said:
“The outrageous claim that climate finance money should be spent elsewhere on humanitarian priorities is misleading. Climate finance should be new and additional to international aid specifically to prevent this from happening in a context where extreme weather related disasters are on the rise.
Cuƫng funding for reducing emissions and adapting to live with climate impacts is dangerously short-sighted and undermines global efforts to save lives.
‘When wealthy and high carbon emiƫng nations fail to step up to their climate responsibilities, it hurts us all but people in poverty most. Rishi Sunak’s government still has time to keep the UK’s longstanding promise to low-income countries and communities of £11.6bn by 2026 in climate funding. Failing to keep this promise would be a miserly betrayal that will cost lives and livelihoods. It would be a backwards step for international cooperation at a time when working together is more crucial than ever.”
David Westwood, Director of Policy and Programmes at World Vision UK, said:
“World Vision UK continues to witness the impact that climate change is having on those least responsible for the crisis, including children, women, and others most at risk of being left behind.
“It is imperative that the Government remains committed to the £11.6bn aid pledge for international climate finance, as well as its other international development commitments, including the International Women & Girls Strategy, to ensure that every child can thrive in a healthy, secure environment, and have a future that is sustainable.
As noted by Shania, aged 15, from Tanzania, children are “the least responsible for climate change but the most affected by its impacts. Governments of all countries need to take bolder decisions and act quickly and decisively, and they need to do it NOW.”
Kirsty Smith, CEO of CBM UK and Basic Needs said:
“People with disabilities, especially those living in poverty, are on the frontline of the climate crisis.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has recognised that they are between two to four times more likely to be impacted by climate change than those without disabilities. It is imperative therefore that the UK Government fulfils its £11.6 billion target commitment of climate finance contributions by 2026, and demonstrate transparently how this will be met. Not doing so will leave behind some of the world’s most marginalised and send a signal that the UK Government has failed on its stated climate ambition.”
The full letter is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B3G1g9j2TbKbrtFwvMFvufZRPGCUYun7CGmz09lzh8/edit?usp=sharing
