With announcements being made so early into the summit, we’re urging the UK not to pull up the draw bridge on further commitments, but to commit to drastically scaling up loss and damage funding to meet the sheer scale of the climate crisis.
Responding to the UK’s commitment of £60m to the loss and damage fund, Zahra Hdidou, Senior Climate and Resilience Adviser at ActionAid UK, said:
“Rishi Sunak’s pledge to the new loss and damage fund is a paltry, derisory offer to millions of people facing climate catastrophe. While intent on stealing the headlines at COP with a shiny new financial package, what the UK is pledging today is not the new or additional funding needed to help millions on the frontline of climate catastrophe but a cynical accounting trick.
“UK claims that it is more ambitious on climate than any other major economy, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. As it issues licenses for over 100 new oil and gas fields and fails to provide a proper roadmap on how it will deliver £11.6bn in loss and damage finance to climate-stricken countries, the UK’s decisions today will continue to cause environmental catastrophe well into the future and cause immense harm to women and girls disproportionately affected by climate breakdown.
“With announcements being made so early into the summit, we’re urging the UK not to pull up the draw bridge on further commitments, but to commit to drastically scaling up loss and damage funding to meet the sheer scale of the climate crisis.”
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Contact the ActionAid UK press office on uk.media@actionaid.org or on 07753 973 486.
Zahra Hdidou, Senior Climate and Resilience Adviser at ActionAid UK, is in Dubai for the summit for both weeks and available for comment on request. Please contact the press office to arrange.