UK pledges $2 bn for climate action

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday pledged $2 billion to the UN’s Green Climate Fund (GFC), a day after G20 leaders adopted a ‘green development pact’ to speed up measures to tackle the challenges of environment and climate change.

- Puja Das

"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," the UK high commission quoted Sunak as saying.

"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."

The UK has led international efforts to help developing countries tackle climate change, including by pledging to spend £11.6 billion ($14.4 billion) on international climate finance between 2021 and 2026.

To be sure, increased financing has been a long-standing demand by developing countries, who point to the historical role played by wealthy nations in creating climate change.