UK to cut climate aid to developing countries by 14% to £2bn a year in ‘refocus’ | Climate aid

UK climate aid to developing countries will be cut by around 14 per cent to around £2bn a year under government plans; Critics said it would put national security and lives abroad at risk.

The move follows bitter disagreements with the Treasury, which wants deeper cuts amid pressure on spending from the war in Iran.

Overall, the UK’s aid budget has been reduced to 0.3% of gross national income; health, education and humanitarian programs all faced the axe.

Before Thursday’s announcement, the government said climate spending would be around £6bn over three years. But experts told the Guardian this would mean less than £6bn, not more. Under the previous five-year arrangement, the UK provided £11.6 billion over five years, or around £2.3 billion per year.

£3 billion worth of funding allocated to nature and forest projects was also cancelled.

The climate finance commitment abandons the previous practice of setting five-year budgets to allow for longer-term projects of the kind that experts say are more efficient.

The Guardian understands the Treasury argued at key meetings last weekend that the overall aid budget should be cut even further than the cuts announced last year and only now fully implemented, from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income.

The Treasury argued that more money was needed to support defense and the economy due to the war in Iran.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “At a time when conflicts are raging in many parts of the world, we will continue and protect our support for people in Ukraine, Sudan, Palestine and Lebanon, and will match this with diplomatic action to prevent and resolve conflicts that cause such destruction and human suffering.

“We need to refocus to ensure it has the most impact, with less investment. Responding to desperate humanitarian crises, preventing conflict and upholding international law are not only a fundamental part of Britain’s values ​​and our common humanity. They are also central to Britain’s interests, because in an increasingly interconnected world, we know that instability abroad affects us at home.”

Some Labor MPs have expressed concerns about the cuts. Chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on global health security, Dr. Beccy Cooper said: “Labour is and always has been a party of internationalism. When we back down from our shared commitments we lose both our power and our standing in the world. “We are a soft superpower and we should be proud of that.

“Today’s spending plans put Britain and the world at risk. Diseases spread faster and further when health systems in the poorest countries are not supported to build resilience. Protecting public health at home means investing in strong health systems everywhere.”

Gareth Thomas, a former international development minister, said: “In an already insecure world, cutting aid risks alienating key allies and will make improving child health and education in Commonwealth countries even more difficult. We risk creating more opportunities for regimes that do not share our values. Our security depends not only on a stronger military but also on building soft power so our soldiers are not needed.”

Zac Goldsmith, a former Foreign Office minister under the Conservatives, said: “This government’s own national security assessment was a stark warning that global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are direct, systemic threats to the security and prosperity of the UK, and yet nature is bearing the brunt of the disruptions. Incredibly short-sighted. No wonder the government is so keen to suppress the report.”

Campaigners told the Guardian that cutting funding for climate and nature aid was short-sighted; especially given the recent warning from intelligence leaders that the collapse of ecosystems around the world poses a serious threat to the UK’s national security.

Jonathan Hall, chief executive of Conservation International UK, said: “We cannot hope to stop the climate crisis without tropical forests. For 15 years, the UK’s international climate finance has always had a clear funding target to stop deforestation. To abandon the commitment now to spend a significant proportion of our climate aid on nature and forests would be in the face of the government’s own security experts, the latest scientific evidence and UK polls that show climate spending is the most popular form of climate spending among the UK public.”