Today the UK Government is committing to substantially increase the amount of funding it is providing to help the most vulnerable countries protect themselves from the effects of climate change.

The UK’s money for climate activities will be increased by at least 50%, to a further £5.8 billion of funding from April 2016 to March 2021, including at least £1.76bn in 2020, from within the existing Official Development Assistance budget.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd said:

“Climate change is one of the most serious threats we face, not just to the environment, but to our economic prosperity, poverty eradication and global security, hitting developing countries the hardest. To ensure a more secure and prosperous future for us all, the UK is playing its part by helping some of the most vulnerable communities become more resilient to climate change and by supporting the developing world to take the clean energy path to growth and prosperity rather than the high carbon route”.

Announced at the UN’s General Assembly in New York, the UK’s new commitment will help millions more vulnerable people cope with the impacts of climate change, and increase access to clean energy, while supporting global efforts to tackle the emissions that cause climate change.

Since 2011, the UK’s climate finance has already helped 15 million people to cope with the effects of climate change and improved access to clean energy for almost 2.6 million people. The funding is delivered through the International Climate Fund (ICF) which reduces poverty by helping developing countries to take up low carbon development, protect forests and to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The government set up the International Climate Fund in 2010 to provide £3.87 billion between April 2011 and March 2016.

Over the lifetime of the existing ICF portfolio, the UK will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 440m tonnes of CO2, and mobilise £3.6bn of private climate finance.

The pledge comes as developing countries are at increasingly higher risk of climate shocks, in addition to gradual and significant changes to their environment. The intensity of climate hazards, like droughts, storms and flooding, is expected to rise over the coming decades. The intensity of climate hazards, like droughts, storms and flooding, is expected to rise over the coming decades. Increasingly erratic environmental conditions threaten people’s livelihoods, sometimes forcing people from their homes, and increasing global instability.

According to the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the UK is a leader on climate finance – it is the only G7 nation to meet the 0.7% aid commitment and the only one to enshrine it in legislation.