United Kingdom Pledges £6bn to Tackle Climate Change in Poorer Countries

Billions of pounds from Britain’s ballooning aid budget will be spent on helping Third World countries cope with climate change and adopt “green energy”, it was revealed last night.

The money will be used to help offset the effects of pollution created by Western countries, and to fund alternative energy sources, such as solar power, as well as being used to invest in flood-resistant crops.

“That’s why we will increase the amount of aid we spend on climate finance over the next five years, helping communities around the world become more resilient to flooding and drought and providing clean, reliable energy”, he said.

The Summit, which has adopted the landmark new sustainability blueprint, Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate over the next 15 years – is also being seen as an opportunity to continue momentum ahead of the Twenty-first meeting of States Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), informally known as COP 21, taking place in the French capital this December.

The conference will also aim to restrict global warming to 2C in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, but the UN’s climate chief has warned that pledges submitted by countries so far will fall short of that goal.

In addition to poverty and hunger, the global goals cover issues such as access to education, healthcare, energy, water and sanitation, as well as gender equality and action on climate change.

‘The United Kingdom is determined to play its part, not just by cutting our emissions at home but by providing support overseas to those who need it, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable.

Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley, was one of the arch-critics of the move to legislate lock-in the 0.7 per cent level with legislation at the time.

Mr Cameron’s early drive to rebrand the Tories as environmentally friendly after becoming party leader appeared to have become sidelined after entering government.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that nearly 6 billion pounds ($9.1 billion) of the U.K.’s foreign aid budget will be spent on tackling climate change in poorer countries.

Cameron said the commitment showed that the United Kingdom was ready to “play its part” toward the goal of mobilizing $100 billion in climate finance every year by 2020.