The UK government has reaffirmed its commitment to the global energy transition with a pledge of £160 million in climate support funding for developing countries.
According to a statement released by the government, the funding will be spread across four separate global initiatives aiming to speed up the development and deployment of new green technologies.
£100 million of the funding will be allocated to the Mitigation Action Facility, which in coordination with the German government, aims to support developing countries in reducing emissions by funding projects that are particularly oriented on sectors such as energy, industry and transport.
£55 million will be provided for the Clean Energy Innovation Facility allowing the initiative to be extended from 2024 to 2029. This programme provides grants to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies in areas such as industrial decarbonisation and smart energy.
The government also confirmed that £5.7 million will be allocated to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Partnership – to support developing countries with technical assistance to implement their NDC. A statement made by the government stated that this namely includes their share of global emissions reductions to reduce global warming under the Paris Agreement.
The final initiative to receive funding is the Global Innovation lab for Climate Finance, which will receive £750,000. This will enable seed funding aiming to leverage further private investment and support emission reductions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The new funding was announced by Energy Minister Graham Stuart at the UN Climate Ambitions Summit in New York and follows UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s “watering down” of a number of climate targets.
Graham Stuart said: “The UK has cut its emissions by more than any other major economy since 1990 and, following COP26, will continue to spearhead international efforts to limit global warming and reach net zero.
“It is essential that developing countries are able to future-proof their industries too – and we will stand with them every step of the way in their industrial transformation.”
