The UK government is falling short on promises to fund nature conservation in developing countries and would need to double current spending to meet its targets, new data has found.
The previous Conservative government’s underspending on overseas climate aid meant spending averaged just £450 million a year for the three years from 2021 onwards – less than half the £3 billion pledged for conservation projects in poorer countries.
Labour faces tough choices over spending: Carbon Brief, which obtained its data through a Freedom of Information request to the government, calculates it will need to spend more than £800 million each year for the next two years to meet its targets.
At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged £11.6 billion in climate finance for developing countries by 2026. Of this, £3 billion was to be dedicated to nature conservation projects, half of which was to go to forest conservation projects.
Labour faces tough questioning from developing countries over its funding at two international summits: COP16 on biodiversity in Colombia next month and COP29, the UN climate summit in Azerbaijan in November.
Clement Metivier, international advocacy head at WWF UK, said: “Finance will be central to the upcoming nature and climate talks. The UK government cannot afford to go into the negotiations empty-handed, which is why WWF is calling on the UK to stick to its previous financial commitments. Providing £11.6 billion in climate funding, of which £3 billion for nature, is vital to rebuild trust with countries and communities most affected by the ongoing climate and nature crisis.”
Energy Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband reaffirmed this key commitment this summer, hosting his Azerbaijani counterpart Mukhtar Babayev, who is also the COP29 President, in London in July. However, all government spending is subject to a comprehensive budget review being carried out by the Treasury as part of the Autumn Budget.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has kept all departments and departments under tight control over spending, and some spending will be cut. But three cabinet ministers — Miliband, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Environment Secretary Steve Reid — recently vowed to put the UK at the centre of global climate and nature talks. This effort would be undermined if the UK is seen to have broken long-standing commitments, even ones that the previous government itself failed to keep.
The findings of the funding gap come as Messrs Lammy and Reid prepare to appoint a new nature envoy for the first time, who will join climate expert Rachel Kyte, revealed by the Guardian this week.
The two envoys are expected to build links with developing countries in international climate and nature discussions.
Lord Goldsmith, who served as a minister in Boris Johnson’s government before stepping down in 2023, more than six months after Rishi Sunak took over as chancellor, was one of the architects of the £3 billion pledge. He told the Guardian that it should be honoured to maintain credibility with developing countries.
He said: “The UK has historically demonstrated significant leadership in global nature diplomacy, but we have fallen short in meeting agreed financial obligations that would help protect the ecosystems we depend on. In a country where environmental issues are consistently ranked in the top five concerns, our performance is falling far short.”
He added: “No challenge is more important or more urgent than making peace with the natural world on which we depend for everything. It is essential that we match our diplomatic efforts and successes with serious investments in partnership with other governments.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The climate and nature emergency is the central geopolitical challenge of our time. Addressing the scale of the threat is vital to delivering clean and safe energy, lowering UK bills, boosting growth and protecting the natural world around us. We have already started to put this ambition into action. The climate and nature crisis will be at the heart of everything the Foreign Office does.”
