PRESS RELEASE : £100 million for vulnerable countries tackling climate change [December 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 December 2023.

The UK government announces measures to support climate-vulnerable countries and joins calls for bolder action on climate adaptation.

• £100 million of UK funding will help climate-vulnerable populations adapt to climate change
• at COP28 Summit today, the UK will call for bolder action to fight the impact climate change is having on health
• package that contributes towards the £1.6 billion of climate aid announced by the Prime Minister on Friday

The UK government will make commitments to help vulnerable countries strengthen their resilience to the increasingly frequent and severe effects of climate change at the COP28 Summit on Sunday (3 December).

International Development and Africa Minister Andrew Mitchell will announce £100 million to support some of the most climate-vulnerable countries to tackle climate change. This will support an initiative to strengthen early warning systems in countries on the front line of climate change, giving people advanced warning of cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather so they can move away from danger, saving lives and protecting vulnerable communities.

The funding will also help make health care in these areas more resilient and able to withstand disasters, like floods, and ready to deal with spikes in infectious diseases, like cholera and malaria, due to floods caused by climate change.

Recognising the urgency of the situation, which forces 26 million into poverty every year, the government will also join calls for bolder collective action to protect the lives, health and livelihoods of those most impacted by climate change.

This supports the Prime Minister announcing major funding for climate projects and stressing the need for ambitious, innovative and pragmatic action.

International Development and Africa Minister Andrew Mitchell, said:

The devastating effects of climate change hit the most vulnerable the hardest.

These funding commitments will help countries and people be better prepared and protected against extreme weather events and natural disasters. They will help roll out measures such as early warning systems, and open up access to climate finance to build resilient health services.

The UK will continue to press for a bold and ambitious approach to support those on the frontline of our changing climate, and to create a safer planet for us all.

On behalf of the UK, Minister Mitchell will endorse the ‘Getting Ahead of Disasters’ Charter, the ‘COP28 Declaration on Relief, Recovery and Peace’, and the ‘COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health’.

Speaking at COP28, he will outline details of the funding package, which include:

• nearly £20 million for a package of disaster risk financing and early warning systems. This will help the one-third of the world’s population who are not covered by early warning systems to prepare for climate shocks and extreme weather, reducing disaster-related mortality and damage. It will also provide affordable insurance against climate disasters, such as droughts
• funding of £36 million for climate action in the Middle East and North Africa to support long-term climate stability. This will mobilise $500 million for clean energy and green growth projects, support 450,000 people to adapt to climate change, and support 200,000 women in better protecting their families from climate shocks. This delivers on the UK’s commitment to scale up pre-arranged finance for crisis recovery
• over £4.4 million to improve access to climate finance for Small Island Developing States and enable them to adapt to the impacts of climate change, with support from the Global Environment Facility’s Special Climate Change Fund and the Alliance of Small Island States
• another £3 million for a new research hub in partnership with Canada, to help local communities address climate shocks and adapt to the long-term impacts of a changing climate. This will be delivered through the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) programme, launched by the UK at COP26
• up to £18 million for an innovative new programme to adapt and strengthen health systems. This will help partner countries manage the growing health impacts of climate change, from infectious diseases and food shortages, to water insecurity and other health-related emergencies. It will be the first climate and health programme to be announced by a G7 country
• a further £20 million for a new research programme to guide the UK’s future work on climate-resilient health systems, recognising the fast-evolving agenda and the need for a stronger evidence base of what works to address the growing threats from climate change to health
• finally, £3 million for a new partnership with the International Rescue Committee to reduce the impact of climate-related crises on schools, students and communities. The Climate Resilient Education Systems Trial will build an evidence base of effective approaches to combatting climate change in and through education

At the COP28 Summit on Sunday (3 December), the UK will convene experts and thought leaders for a panel discussion on climate security. It will be the first time that the UK has hosted such an event, with the US, the EU, Iraq, Kenya, Mali, NATO, and United Nations Development Programme expected to attend. It aims to improve collective understanding of the security implications of climate change, including global instability and conflict, while exploring best practice to respond to these risks through data-informed policy making, stress testing, analytical foresight capability, and international cooperation.

Background:

The £20 million disaster risk financing package consists of:

• £5 million for the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative to enable the least developed countries and Small Island Developing States to better prepare for climate shocks and extreme weather
• £7.4 million to fund drought insurance protection for Somalia over the next 3 years through African Risk Capacity (ARC), Africa’s risk pool, which will provide rapid payouts to vulnerable communities if rains fail
• £7.1 million to fund disaster insurance cover in Senegal, Somalia, Madagascar and Zimbabwe over 2 years through the Start Network, which allows members to pool funds and risks in order to stretch funding further and provide additional cover. This will also cover locally-led responses to the impact of El Niño-driven extreme weather across multiple countries

The £40 million climate-health package consists of:

• £18 million for the UK’s flagship Climate Resilient and Sustainable Health Systems Programme
• £20 million for a newly approved Climate and Health Research Programme
• increased funding to UNICEF to help develop the climate resilience of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services and to unlock climate finance

The new CLARE Research for Impact (R4I) Hub will identify demand from key stakeholders and match it with past research investments made by the UK and Canada. By repurposing this evidence to meet the specific decision-making contexts and the local adaptation needs and priorities, it will lead to more tangible impacts on the ground.