Britain emerges as the biggest contributor to the Global Climate Fund for developing nations at G20

The recently concluded G20 Summit in New Delhi saw Britain making the biggest global single climate funding commitment in recent times.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a £1.6 billion ($2 billion) investment in the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The biggest contribution Britain has made in the global climate change tackling efforts.

On Sunday, September 10, the Prime Minister's Office announced that the UK government is increasing its contribution to the Green Climate Fund. This action by the Sunak government is in line with the UK's pledge of spending £11.6 billion on global climate finance efforts.

It seeks to maintain Britain's lead role in the sphere of global climate action. Over the years the UK has cut down its emissions faster than any other G7 country, making it secure its global climate leadership role.

The funding announcement made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday is aimed at helping the poor and marginal people who are often at the receiving end of climate change. The Green Climate Fund will help vulnerable communities to adapt to the changing conditions, ultimately mitigating the climate change impact.

The Green Climate Fund was formed by 194 nations after they agreed on the Copenhagen Accord at COP15. The GCF is the largest global fund to reduce emissions in developing countries. It helps to mitigate the effects of climate change by uplifting vulnerable communities.

The £1.62 billion funding announcement in Delhi yesterday marked a 12.7 per cent increase in UK contribution to the GCF from an earlier period between 2020 and 2023. The last three years' contribution was double the amount the UK spent on establishing GCF in 2014.

Ahead of December's COP28 meeting, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged world leaders to concentrate efforts on reducing their countries' carbon emissions and supporting vulnerable economies. Sunak stressed the necessity of such efforts to reduce the effect of climate change.

Britain showcases its climate commitments through the Global Climate Fund

The British Prime Minister's address at the G20 Summit highlighted aspects of the UK's climate commitments at home and on the global stage.

Rishi Sunak said: that Britain has stepped up its climate commitments and is decarbonising its economy along with fulfilling its pledge to support the most vulnerable people.

Sunak said: that Britain is providing the leadership the G20 countries expect from the world and the UK government will continue to lead by example. Making the world and the UK prosper is the primary objective of the government.

The Prime Minister highlighted how Britain has led international efforts to mitigate climate change effects in developing countries with a pledge to spend £11.6 billion between 2021 and 2026. This £1.6 billion allocation is part of that plan.

Rishi Sunak further elaborated how this £1.6 billion spending is in line with Britain's commitment to triple its climate adaptation funding contribution announcement made at COP27.

The UK climate aid has helped more than 95 million people worldwide to adapt to the changing conditions since 2011. This prevented the release of 68 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, Sunak added.

Highlighting the UK's transformation towards adopting clean energy alternatives at home, the Prime Minister said this funding to mitigate the climate change risks of the developing nations goes hand-in-hand with the UK's domestic commitments.

Sunak further underlined how Britain cut down its carbon emissions faster than any other G7 country simply by adopting low carbon sources in over 50 per cent electricity supply in the country.

In the first three months of 2023, 47.84 per cent of UK electricity was generated from renewables including wind, solar and hydro energy. The output from the renewable energy sector achieved a new high last year.

Also, the UK saw the biggest offshore wind capacity installation last year which made UK homes the fourth largest working wind farms worldwide, revealed the Prime Minister. This comes at a time when the UK Offshore Wind Industry suffered a setback as developers refused to participate in the auction.

The British Prime Minister ended his speech by reiterating the importance of GCF and the UK government's continued efforts to support it.

The UK government is behind all efforts to accelerate GCF delivering results at a greater speed and demonstrating value for money in its activities. GCF should improve its delivery in small island states and the least developed countries where people are most vulnerable to climate change, said Sunak.