The United Kingdom is set to reduce climate aid for developing countries from £11.6bn to £9bn over the next five years, despite previous promises to expand support and warnings that the cuts could have severe global consequences
The United Kingdom intends to reduce its climate assistance to poorer nations hit hardest by the climate crisis, The Guardian reported, marking a cut of more than a fifth from previous levels. Ministers plan to lower climate finance from £11.6 billion over the past five years to £9 billion in the next five.
In real terms, once inflation is accounted for, this represents a fall of about 40 per cent in spending power since 2021, when the original £11.6 billion commitment was made.
The reduction is being imposed by the Treasury, despite warnings from
UK intelligence chiefs that the collapse of major ecosystems, including the Amazon and the Congo, could damage national security, raise food prices and increase global conflict risks.
The move comes only a year after the UK and other nations pledged to triple global climate finance for developing countries to $300 billion a year by 2035. Although the agreement did not stipulate individual targets, a UK reduction is expected to make the global goal harder to meet.
Concerns raised by climate advocates
Mohamed Adow, Director of the Power Shift Africa think tank, warned that the cuts would have direct humanitarian consequences. “For vulnerable countries, UK climate finance isn’t an abstract budget line – it’s the difference between resilience and disaster. Cutting it at this moment will cost lives and livelihoods,” he said.
He added that with Donald Trump withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and scrapping US climate finance targets, the UK stepping back from its pledges could encourage others to follow.
Ministers are still debating the details of the next phase of international climate finance, known as ICF4 within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The funding comes from the overseas aid budget, which last year was cut to 0.3 per cent of gross national income. Until 2021, when the share was reduced to 0.5 per cent under Boris Johnson, the UK had allocated 0.7 per cent to foreign aid.
Under the current proposal, the £9 billion pledge would translate to about £2 billion a year for the next three years, followed by £1.5 billion annually in 2029-30 and 2030-31, extending beyond the current parliamentary term. The Treasury has been reluctant to commit to funding beyond its existing three-year spending framework, though other departments and parliamentary committees have argued that a five-year cycle is necessary for effective planning.
Rebadging of existing aid projects
Alongside the headline cuts, civil servants are reportedly working to reclassify existing aid programmes—including education and health projects—as climate finance. Some officials argue that up to 30 per cent of aid to the least developed countries may qualify as climate finance, even where projects have little direct relevance to the climate crisis.
Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the
UK, did not attend the COP30 summit in Brazil last November and is said to have received her first major climate briefing only last December. While her predecessor David Lammy actively engaged in climate diplomacy and appointed climate and nature envoys, Cooper is reported to have shown a stronger focus on issues such as girls’ education.
Nature conservation funding is also facing cuts, and discussions are under way over the future of the £3 billion ringfence within the ICF budget allocated for nature-related spending. While key initiatives such as the Blue Planet Fund—established to support ocean protection following public concern raised by David Attenborough’s programme—are expected to continue, they are likely to face reductions.
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