13 July 2009
DFID’s White Paper, Building our Common Future, was launched in July 2009 with climate change as a central theme.
The paper highlights how our common climate requires steps to be taken now if we are to avoid devastating the world our children will inherit. Climate change is likely to place an additional 80-120 million people at risk of hunger, and 70 to 80 per cent of these will be in Africa.
The White Paper outlines a wide range of ways in which the UK intends to help developing countries tackle climate change, including:
Developing countries need finance to tackle climate change. Financing it now will save far greater costs in the future. While the majority will come from a reformed carbon market, the White Paper reiterates the UK’s pledge to provide new public finance over and above existing aid commitments. And recognising that some development assistance meets both poverty reduction and climate change objectives, the UK also commits to limiting this to 10% of our aid spend, and will work towards this limit being agreed internationally.
The UK is establishing a new climate change knowledge network to provide advice and knowledge to developing countries – to be up and running in 2010. The network will help countries to access world class science, knowledge and advice on adaptation policies and on low carbon development.
A new DFID-Hadley Centre partnership will invest in research into global climate science to provide better predictions of the local weather patterns and climate change impacts on poorer countries.
Over the next three years, the UK will invest in the Clean Technology Fund to support 15-20 countries with rapidly rising emissions to transform their use of renewable energy, and make their transport and energy use more efficient. In five to eight low income countries, the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme will also aim to stimulate the spread of renewable energy. By 2015 we expect that this will provide enough energy to support over 2.5 million households.
A quarter of the world’s population need access to energy. The growth in green technologies can help developing countries leap-frog over old, carbon intensive technology to use clean and efficient ones. The UK will push the Multilateral Development Banks to reach higher spending targets on clean renewable energy.
Clean technology requires innovation – to change business models, raise finance and develop new technologies. The UK will work with (at least three) developing countries to pilot low carbon innovation centres to develop and spread new and existing low carbon and climate resilient technologies.
Countries will be hit hard by the increasing scarcity of water. The UK is providing new money for water resources management, helping countries find new ways of co-operating over shared trans-boundary water resources and improving their storage and management of water resources.
Deforestation accounts for almost one-fifth of global emissions. The UK is working with others to help 37 countries to develop plans to combat deforestation and reduce emissions, through programmes such as the £15m Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. We will also seek new ways to raise the funding needed to help developing countries protect their forests – for example through carbon markets.
Developing countries will be very vulnerable to the increase in extreme weather that is anticipated. Insurance can be the single factor that prevents a business from collapsing or a family falling into destitution. The UK will work with developing countries to help develop climate insurance markets that provide affordable insurance for the poor.
It is vital those countries most vulnerable to climate change are able to prepare and adapt, for example by better managing water supply and storage, ensuring homes are more flood resistant or by using new crops that are more drought resistant. The UK will help over 250 million people in 11 vulnerable countries such as Nepal, Bolivia and Zambia, to do this, through the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR).
DFID also needs to change its approach. We will make our entire development work climate sensitive and support new climate strategies in DFID country programmes.
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