G20: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces USD 2bn Green Climate Fund

As the G20 Summit in India approaches its start, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a record-breaking commitment to climate aid, according to the British High Commission in India on Sunday. The Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was established by 194 countries in the wake of the Copenhagen Accord at COP15, will receive USD 2 billion from the UK. This is the largest single financial commitment the UK has made to assist the world in addressing climate change.

“Uplift makes a significant contribution towards the UK’s pledge to spend 11.6bn Pounds on international climate finance, cementing our global climate leadership. UK continues to show global climate leadership, having cut emissions faster than any other G7 country,” said a release by the British High Commission.

The UK has contributed the most money to date to assisting the most vulnerable populations around the world in coping with the effects of climate change and adjusting to them. The GCF is the biggest international fund devoted to aiding developing nations in lowering global emissions and assisting local communities in coping with the effects of climate change. The pledge made today represents a 12.7% increase over the UK’s prior contribution to the GCF for the years 2020–2023, which itself was a doubling of our initial funding to create the fund in 2014, according to the press release.

At the G20 Summit UK PM Sunak has called on leaders to work together ahead of the COP28 Summit this December to both reduce their countries’ own carbon emissions and support vulnerable economies to deal with the consequences of climate change.
Addressing G20 leaders, Sunak said, “The UK is stepping up and delivering on our climate commitments, both by decarbonising our own economy and supporting the world’s most vulnerable to deal with the impact of climate change.”
“This is the kind of leadership that the world rightly expects from G20 countries. And this government will continue to lead by example in making the UK, and the world, more prosperous and secure,” he added.

In addition to promising to invest 11.6 billion pounds in international climate finance between 2021 and 2026, the UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to assist developing countries combat climate change. Following the Prime Minister’s declaration at COP27 that the UK would triple our funding for climate adaptation, this announcement “marks a major contribution towards this commitment.”