Nigeria is set to benefit from a £95 million investment fund from the United Kingdom to support climate-resilient agriculture.
While announcing an increase in the climate adaptation budget to £1.5 billion by 2025, the UK said it would provide a £95 million investment to support the development of climate-resilient agriculture programmes, for example through scaling up heat-tolerant crop varieties, in Nigeria.
The new budget commitment was announced in a session with the theme ‘Accelerating adaptation in Africa’, which aims to support the international community to make COP27 a critical moment for increasing climate financing in Africa.
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According to a statement, “the funding will support more than 4 million people, including 2 million women, to increase productivity while reducing emissions.”
At the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Monday, UK’s foreign minister, James Cleverly said that the UK was delivering on the commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow and urged other countries to do the same.
He said that the budget was scaled up to support developing countries facing the devastating impact of climate change, to adapt effectively. The UK had pledged £290 million at COP26.
“The Glasgow climate pact gave the world the tools to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees and build a secure and sustainable future,” Cleverly said.
“Now is the time for all countries to step up their action on climate change and deliver the tangible change needed.
He noted that the UK remains committed to playing a leading role in this mission, adding that the funding announced will support countries which are facing the devastating impact of climate change, to adapt effectively.
Speaking further, he said that Africa will be prioritised in the climate financing commitment, adding that the UK has partnered with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to open a new climate finance window that Africa can benefit from.
Story was adapted from theCable.
