The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on Monday, November 7, 2022, cemented the UK’s COP legacy with a series of announcements on energy transition, climate financing and forest and nature preservation, as he handed over the baton to Egypt at COP27.
He said the UK continues to deliver on key funding commitments, spending £11.6 billion on international climate finance. Recognising the existential threat climate change is already posing around the world – from catastrophic floods in Pakistan to drought in Somalia – the Government will commit to triple funding for climate adaptation as part of that budget, from £500m in 2019 to £1.5bn in 2025.
The Prime Minister also launched the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership. The new group, initially comprising 20 countries, will meet twice yearly to track commitments on the landmark Forests and Land Use declaration at COP26, which aims to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030.
To support the forest agenda, the UK is committing £90m for conservation in the Congo Basin, a vital tropical rainforest which is home to some 10,000 species of tropical plants and several endangered species, including forest elephants, chimpanzees and mountain gorillas.
The PM also confirmed £65 million in funding for the Nature, People and Climate Investment Fund, which supports indigenous and local forest communities, and new financing for Treevive, which is working to conserve and restore two million hectares of tropical forest.
“As we hand over the Presidency of COP, the Government is focused in particular on partnering with the private sector to facilitate green innovation and energy transition, at home and around the world. As well as helping the drive for net zero, reducing the global demand for oil and gas cuts off the funds for Russia’s brutal war machine,” he said.
In support of this, the Prime Minister further announced a further £65.5 million for the Clean Energy Innovation Facility, which provides grants to researchers and scientists in developing countries to accelerate the development of clean technology.
Since the BEIS-led fund was launched in 2019 it has supported the creation of biomass-powered refrigeration in India, prototype lithium-ion batteries in Nigeria and clean hydrogen-based fuels for steel production in Morocco, among other innovations.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, 7th November, 2022 joined the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak, to launch the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) at the 27th session of the Conference of Parties (COP27). pic.twitter.com/IiMskqULxd
— Forestry Commission Gh (@fcghana2020) November 8, 2022
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told COP27 that the world came together in Glasgow with one last chance to create a plan that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.
“The question today is: can we summon the collective will to deliver on those promises? I believe we can. By honouring the pledges we made in Glasgow, we can turn our struggle against climate change into a global mission for new jobs and clean growth. And we can bequeath our children a greener planet and a more prosperous future. That’s a legacy we could be proud of,” he said.
He added: “As well as supporting innovation, the UK is working with G7 allies to provide countries with reliable, transparent sources of sustainable infrastructure financing.”
Sunak confirmed the new financial support for Egypt’s flagship COP27 initiative, the ‘Nexus on Food, Water and Energy’. The funding will develop projects including solar parks and energy storage innovations, and is expected to mobilise billions in private sector finance.
#COP27 His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa together with German Chancellor @OlafScholz; President @EmmanuelMacron of the Republic of France; Prime Minister @RishiSunak of the United Kingdom, President of the European Commission, Ms Ursula @vonderLeyen pic.twitter.com/rVRCOTHZSU
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) November 8, 2022
Bilateral meetings
The Prime Minister later held a series of bilateral meetings at COP27 including with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.
While meeting President William Ruto, the Prime Minister reiterated that the UK and Kenya have reaffirmed their commitment to the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership and agreed to progress a number of flagship green investment projects.
The projects include new and expanded solar and geothermal power plants in Kenya backed by British International Investment, UK export financing for Nairobi’s ground-breaking Railway City and a major Public-private Partnership on the $3 billion Grand High Falls Dam hydropower project led by UK firm GBM Engineering.
He later attended a roundtable discussion focused on energy transition partnerships and delivered a national plenary statement setting out the UK’s climate commitments.
They included; £20.7 million in Disaster Risk Financing to support countries which face climate-related disasters, helping them to afford insurance and to access reliable funding, £13 million to support vulnerable countries to adapt to climate impacts, and towards efforts to avert, minimise and address loss and damage and £95 million investment to support the development of climate-resilient agriculture programmes in Nigeria.
The UK reached a Memorandum of Understanding with Colombia to renew their “Partnership for Sustainable Growth”, deepening bilateral cooperation on climate change and increasing efforts to protect and restore nature and biodiversity in land and marine ecosystems.
The Prime Minister @RishiSunak met with President of the European Commission @vonderleyen, His Highness @MohamedBinZayed President of the UAE and Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni of Italy today at @COP27P in Egypt.
🇬🇧🇪🇺🇦🇪🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/AxL8ZuHXDf
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) November 7, 2022