UK Cuts Climate Finance to £6bn, 50% Drop in Real Terms
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- UK government announced a new climate‑finance target of “around £6bn” for the next three years (2026‑2028), replacing the earlier £11.6bn commitment for 2021‑2026.
- Carbon Brief analysis shows that when inflation is accounted for and the government’s “creative accounting” is excluded, the new pledge is roughly 50% lower than the previous target in real terms.
- Yvette Cooper (UK foreign secretary) said the £6bn will be split between mitigation and adaptation and that the UK aims to mobilise an additional £6.7bn of UK‑backed climate and nature‑positive investments, plus billions more in private finance.
- UK government has scrapped the ring‑fencing of funds for nature and forest conservation and removed the practice of setting five‑year climate‑finance goals, increasing uncertainty for recipients.
- UK climate‑finance cut diverges from the COP29 agreement to raise global climate finance to $300bn a year by 2035, mirroring similar reductions by other donors such as the United States.
- UK government uses the vague term “around” for the £6bn target, allowing the possibility of spending below that figure.
- UK is shifting its aid strategy toward “innovative development reforms,” emphasizing unlocking private investment rather than direct grant funding.
Why it matters: Developing‑country climate projects lose a substantial funding stream, while the UK redirects aid toward private‑investment mechanisms, weakening certainty for recipients and diverging from the COP29 $300bn‑by‑2035 goal. The cut also reflects a broader policy shift toward defence spending.
