CBM calls on UK Government to maintain £11.6 billion climate finance commitment

Posted on: Friday, July 7th, 2023

The UK Government might be considering reneging on its climate finance commitments. CBM is deeply concerned by this and, together with more than 90 organisations working across international development, humanitarian response, environmental, inclusion and rights issues, is speaking out to hold the Government to account.

In 2019, the UK Government committed to double its commitment to international climate finance to £11.6 billion, to be delivered by 2026. They have repeatedly reiterated this pledge as evidence of the UK’s ambitious leadership on the global issue of climate change.

The media this week reports that the Government may be questioning this commitment.

Sarah Champion, MP, and Chair of the International Development Committee, says: “The decision would have serious implications for people’s lives in those parts of the world most vulnerable to climate change.” Read Sarah Champion’s full comment here.

Knowing that people with disabilities are among those hardest hit by climate change, CBM UK share this deep concern. Today, we join many other NGOs in calling on the Prime Minister not to let this happen, in a letter written and coordinated by Climate Action Network UK. Read the full letter to the Prime Minister here.

Kirsty Smith, CBM UK CEO, commented:

“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 demonstrates 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. ”