UK Slashes Climate Finance Despite Global Promises

The United Kingdom government is planning to cut its climate finance for developing countries by more than 20%, despite earlier promises to scale up support for nations hardest hit by the climate crisis, according to an exclusive report by the The Guardian.

Ministers are expected to reduce international climate funding from £11.6 billion over the past five years to £9 billion over the next five years. When inflation is taken into account, campaigners warn this amounts to a real-terms cut of nearly 40% compared with the 2021 spending agreement.

Campaigners Warn of Severe Human and Global Consequences

Climate and development experts say the proposed cuts could have devastating consequences for vulnerable communities already facing floods, droughts, food shortages and displacement.

Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, said climate finance was not an abstract policy issue for poorer nations.

“For vulnerable countries, UK climate finance is the difference between resilience and disaster. Cutting it now will cost lives and livelihoods,” he warned.

The decision reportedly comes despite warnings from the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee that ecosystem collapse in regions such as the Amazon rainforest and the Congo Basin could directly threaten UK national security by driving food price inflation and increasing the risk of global conflict.

Cuts Undermine Global Climate Commitments

The move also risks undermining last year’s international agreement by wealthy nations to triple global climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035. While the deal did not assign binding national targets, analysts say a UK reduction will make the goal significantly harder to achieve.

Campaigners argue the signal is particularly damaging as the United States, under Donald Trump, has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and scrapped US climate finance targets.
“UK backsliding gives other countries cover to walk away from their responsibilities,” Adow said.

Aid Budget Pressure and “Rebadging” Concerns

The funding cuts are linked to pressure on the overseas aid budget, which has been reduced to 0.3% of gross national income, down from the long-standing 0.7% target before 2021.

Civil servants have also raised concerns that existing aid projects in areas such as health and education are being “rebadged” as climate finance to meet headline targets, even when their climate impact is minimal. Experts warn this could make the term “climate finance” increasingly meaningless due to a lack of transparency, particularly since Brexit ended UK alignment with EU reporting standards.

Nature Protection Funds Also at Risk

Funding for nature conservation is also under threat, including a proposed weakening of the £3 billion ringfence for nature-based climate solutions. High-profile initiatives such as the Blue Planet Fund, launched after public concern sparked by David Attenborough, are expected to continue but with reduced budgets.

Jonathan Hall, managing director of Conservation International UK, said protecting nature abroad was directly linked to economic stability at home.
“If you care about food prices or national security, you should care about rainforest collapse and melting glaciers,” he said.

Government Response

A UK government spokesperson said the country remained committed to international climate finance and was on track to deliver £11.6 billion by the end of the current financial year, adding that ministers were focused on ensuring “greater impact for every pound spent.”

However, developing country experts argue that cutting future funding undermines the UK’s credibility as a climate leader and weakens trust with the global south at a critical moment for international climate action.