MPs and green groups dismayed as Burnham funds £2 bus fare cap with climate aid
Green groups and opposition politicians criticized the government for its decision to fund the new project. £500m policy to cap bus fares in England at £2 It uses the climate aid budget.
The new transport policy announced today will reverse the £3 cap increase introduced by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in 2024 and is being billed as a landmark measure to tackle the problem. cost of living crisis.
Around £400 million of the cost will come from shifting government investment in international climate finance from grants to loans, the rest from savings in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero budget and around £50 million from the Department for Transport.
Mohamed Adow, director of Nairobi-based think tank Power Shift Africa, was among those criticizing the funding move, saying: “Putting the burden on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people is the wrong choice.
“climate finance It was never intended as a pot of money for governments to plunder when they needed to pay for domestic expenditures. “It is part of the UK’s responsibility to help those countries that have contributed least to the climate crisis but are suffering its worst impacts.”
Liberal Democrat MP Monica Harding said it was “right to cut bus fares” but added that she believed Burnham’s approach would “further weaken the UK’s position as a reliable global partner”.
Green MP Ellie Chowns added: “Cutting bus fares is welcome, but doing so by burdening some of the poorest countries, which have contributed least to the climate crisis and are experiencing some of its worst consequences, is morally wrong.”
The new funding announcement comes after the government has already reduced the amount of aid it will provide to climate projects. wider aid cut programIt rose from £11.6bn in the last five years (annual average of £2.3bn) to £6bn in the next three years (annual average of £2bn).
Others said shifting funding from grants to loans would worsen the crisis. Debt crises experienced by many developing countries is currently grappling with global shocks, including Covid-19 and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In recent months many charities He was highly critical of the British government for not doing enough to help indebted developing countries.
“Tackling the cost of living crisis and deepening household debt in the UK should not be paid for by piling more debt on people in low-income countries like Malawi and Zambia,” said Heidi Chow, chief executive of pressure group Debt Justice.
“This is a slap in the face to countries already facing the double whammy of an escalating debt crisis. climate emergencyhe added.
Romily Greenhill, chief executive of development aid network Bond, said it was disappointing that “the new Prime Minister is picking up where the previous one left off, raiding the UK’s dwindling aid budget to tackle the cost of living crisis”.
In response to concerns raised by green groups, a government spokesman said: “We are committed to spending 0.3 per cent.” [of Gross National Income] About Official Development Assistance.
“Shifting a small portion of this spending from grants to loans gives us more flexible ways to tackle the climate crisis while making the best use of taxpayers’ money.”
This article was produced as part of The Independent. Rethinking Global Aid project
