Sections:
Press Release
06 February 2008
Ten-fold boost to climate change research funding
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander announces expansion of funding for climate change research in poor countries
The UK’s Department for International Development today expanded its climate
change research funding to £100 million over the next five years.
The funding will be spent on research into the impacts of climate change on the
poorest and most vulnerable people, and on helping their communities,
governments and the private sector take action to help prepare for these
impacts.
DFID also announced it will work with interested parties to establish a climate
change centre. The centre will form a network of expertise deploying the best
climate change researchers, practitioners and institutions to help developing
countries understand and work with the physical, social and economic impacts of
climate change.
This increase on DFID’s spending compared to £10 million over the last five
years will help improve scientific, economic and social understanding and
provide the best expertise to developing countries to help them plan their
response.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said:
“Climate change is a defining global social justice issue. If we fail to tackle
climate change we risk condemning the world’s poorest people to poverty for
generations to come.
“At the same time, we must not allow the climate change debate to neglect – or
even prevent – the right of developing countries to grow. Development and
climate change are – and must be seen as – inextricably linked.
“We know climate change is one of the greatest threats to development. By 2080,
an extra 600 million people could be affected by malnutrition. An extra 400
million people could be exposed to malaria. As many as 200 million people could
be forced from their homes because of rising sea levels, heavier floods and more
intense droughts, and an extra 1.8 billion people could be living without enough
water.
“We need to agree a global limit for greenhouse gases, build an effective carbon
market and price that works for the poorest, and we must work to protect the
most vulnerable against the inevitable impact of climate change. Critical to
this is filling the important gaps in our knowledge. Today DFID will expand its
funding to a total of over £100 million to fund research on climate change in
the poorest countries over the next five years. DFID, working with interested
partners, will also establish a climate change centre – a network of expertise,
deploying the best researchers, practitioners and institutions in the field of
climate change to help interested developing countries close their research gaps
on physical, social and economic impacts.
“In 2005 the world came together to make poverty history. If we do not address
climate change we threaten to make poverty the future.”
Notes to editors
1. The UK is spending more money than ever to lift people out of poverty
which makes them less vulnerable to climate change for example by investing in
safer, flood resistant housing for thousands of people in Bangladesh. The UK has
pledged at least £75 million to support adaptation directly.
2. Last year the UK announced an £800 million Environmental Transformation Fund,
to support development and poverty reduction through helping developing
countries respond to climate change by adapting and promoting clean energy. This
is separate to the funding expansion.
3. Visit DFID’s climate change website pages
for more information on how we are tackling climate change, and for case studies
on how DFID is helping communities adapt to the climate impacts such as: