Ministers have been accused of failing to meet the UK’s international climate commitments after £1.7bn of an existing aid budget was reportedly reclassified as providing poorer countries with environmental funding.
The government’s official aid watchdog was quoted as saying that even with these accountancy changes, Downing Street still might not meet the £11.6bn target due to the scale of cuts to overseas aid budgets.
MPs did not disguise last year that they were undertaking a reclassification of what aid could be regarded as contributing to the climate target, but this is the first time the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) has put a figure on the scale of the changes or passed comment on its validity.
The report states: “To meet the UK’s climate finance commitment, the government opted to adjust its accounting methodology, essentially moving the goalposts for achieving the £11.6bn,” adding that without the changes ministers had no chance of meeting the target.
“All of these changes meant that the government counted an extra £1.724bn towards the target, while countries expecting support from the ICF [international climate finance] pledge did not receive any additional money to tackle climate change.”
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Among other things, the report also describes the reclassifications as large and representing 15% of the total UK climate pledge, adding the government’s reputation as a leader in this field has been damaged.
The UK’s £11.6bn pledge arose from various UN climate conferences and was widely praised at the time as setting the UK as a leader in climate finance donations. It was the UK contribution to meeting the worldwide pledge to mobilise $100bn annually for climate finance, a global pledge first made in 2009.
The UK made the specific £11.6bn pledge at the UN general assembly in 2019, saying the money would cover the five years to March 2026. The ICAI report said the government still needs to find 55% of the £11.6bn in the final two years of the pledge.
At least £2.6bn of the pledge is now not due to be spent until the final year, 2025-26, after a general election. Such backloading would place great budgetary pressure on any incoming Labour government aid programme.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
