UK to institute £290m fund to help struggling countries deal with climate change: Report

Amid the ongoing UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, the United Kingdom on Monday pledged to provide a fund of £290m for the poorer countries dealing with climate change, reported BBC.

According to reports, the amount was announced during the COP26 summit in which the European Country has vowed to help poorer countries, especially Asian and Pacific nations. Further, the report said that the policymakers would finalise the distribution of funding during this week. The policymakers would also discuss how to support poorer countries from the damages that occurred due to natural disasters.

Apart from the announcement made by UK, the developing countries urged the international communities to provide financial help of $100 billion, reported BBC. The poorer countries argued that they are already facing financial distress due to COVID-19 lockdowns and that the promises made during the Climate Summit would affect their exchequer. 

It is worth mentioning that the poorer and developing nations contribute a very small proportion of pollution as compared to developed countries. According to BBC, the wealthiest countries account for more than 50% of global pollution. Therefore, it is their "social compulsion" to provide financial help to the poorer countries.

Wealthier countries failed to deliver the commitments made during 2009 summit

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government said that the majority of the money from the UK will go to help Asian and Pacific nations, as per BBC reports. London would invest a large chunk of the amount in climate action, improve conservation, and promote low-carbon development.

Earlier, the top officials said that the UK was planning to cut the fundings for the poorer countries but with the latest announcement, the government has cleared all the uncertainties that were reported before the global climate summit. 

However, some climate advocates expressed their displeasure while speaking to BBC. The climate activists said that they are expecting the wealthier nations to dispense the amount of $100 billion this year. According to them, the developed countries had pledged to provide a sum of $100 billion as support to the poorer nations during the 2009 UN Climate Summit. Instead of delivering the amount, the countries deferred the target to 2023, BBC reported, citing some of the top climate activists. 

Poorer countries prefer debt payments over climate change: Oxfam report

According to a report by international charitable organisation Oxfam, poorer countries spend five times more on debt than managing the impact of climate change. At least 34 of the world's poorest countries spend nearly $29.4 billion on debt payments in a year while these countries spend almost one-fifth ($5.4 billion) of the budget in coping with the impact of climate change, noted the report published this year. 

Reacting to the report, Oxfam International’s Global Climate Policy Lead, Nafkote Dabi, said that the whole world has seen how the countries spend trillions of funds to cope with COVID-19 but failed to show the same zeal while releasing funds for climate-related issues.

Image: AP