The Department for International Development’s (DFID’s) Secretary Rory Stewart announced the new aid package on Monday (15 July) following a two-day trip to Kenya last week. The £250m will be provided over the next five years to help sub-Saharan nations cope with the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.
“We are facing a global climate emergency. Polluted air, rising sea levels and increasing temperatures are felt by everyone in the world,” Stewart said. “We must all play our part to protect the environment, wildlife, vulnerable families and communities – and this includes investing in renewable energy.
“I am today announcing DFID’s biggest ever single direct aid investment in climate and the environment across Africa. This builds on my ambition to double DFID’s efforts on this issue globally. Tackling climate change is of direct benefit to everyone living on this planet, including of course in the UK.”
African nations are responsible for just 2 to 3% of global emissions, but the people living there are set to be, and in some cases already are, the worst affected by climate change.
Ethical aid
Earlier this year, Stewart said he would like the £1.1bn sum that the Department for International Development (DFID) spends on climate mitigation and adaptation projects overseas annually to rise to £2.2bn by 2024.
The Department this March confirmed plans to double the amount of financial aid it will send to developing nations to help combat plastic pollution and boost plastic recycling rates overseas from £3m in 2018 to £6m this year.
Last month, Stewart claimed that the UK will have an “ethical” development policy that puts the climate emergency at the heart of overseas aid. The Secretary confirmed that more than £190m would be spent on climate-related issues in the first initiative.
In 2018, the UK Government confirmed an investment of £56m into a South African battery storage project to help the nation bolster its renewable power generation output.
Matt Mace