The Prime Minister will stress the need for ambitious, innovative, and pragmatic climate action to meet the challenge of rising global temperatures at the COP28 Summit in the United Arab Emirates today.
Attending the first day of the World Leaders Summit at COP28, Rishi Sunak will announce major funding for effective projects to stop and reverse deforestation, protect the natural environment, and accelerate the global transition to clean and renewable energy.
The projects will support urgent efforts to get the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C on track.
Today’s announcements build on the UK’s leading record at home, with the fastest decarbonisation in the G7 and record investment in renewables, and help to deliver on the legacy of the successful COP26 Summit in Glasgow.
The COP28 Summit will stress the importance of UK climate action
The UK put nature at the heart of climate summits for the first time at COP26, securing the agreement of the landmark ‘Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.
This saw more than 140 countries commit to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
Ahead of the COP28 Summit this week, the UK took further action to protect the UK’s rich natural heritage, announcing 34 new landscape recovery projects, new community forests and funding to help more children get outdoors and into the great British countryside.
Ahead of COP28, Rishi Sunak said: “The world made ambitious pledges at previous COP summits to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. But the time for pledges is now over – this is the era for action.
“The UK has led the way in taking pragmatic, long-term decisions at home – and at COP28, we will lead international efforts to protect the world’s forests, turbocharge renewable energy and leverage the full weight of private finance.”
The summit will also help speed up the transition to renewables
At the COP28 Summit, the UK will announce £316m funding for exciting energy innovation projects worldwide to help speed up the global transition to renewables.
The funding includes up to £185m from the Ayrton Fund for a planned UK-led Climate Innovation Pull Facility, which will use market incentives to signal the demand for a particular innovation in developing countries and rapidly advance new green technology.
There will also be £40m from the Ayrton Fund via the Energy Catalyst for 64 clean energy projects across Africa, South Asia, and the Indo-Pacific, investing in partnerships which are developing critical technologies like energy storage, smart grids, and next-generation solar.
Further announcements will be made by UK ministers throughout COP28, bringing the total UK ICF commitment for the Summit to more than £1.6bn.
Of that, £887.8m, including £465 million for forests, is new funding outside of the £11.6bn ICF spending target agreed for 2021/22 – 2025/26.
