Question

To ask the President of COP26, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that climate finance committed by (a) the UK and (b) other high-income countries reaches frontline communities.

Under the UK’s Presidency, 95% of the largest developed country climate finance providers made new, forward-looking climate finance commitments, with many doubling or even quadrupling their support for developing countries to take climate action. These pledges mean that the $100 billion finance goal will be met by developed countries by 2023 at the latest. At COP26, there was significant progress on adaptation finance, with agreement in the Glasgow Climate Pact that developed countries should at least double their finance for adaptation to developing countries against 2019 levels by 2025.

To improve access to climate finance, the UK launched the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance at COP26, in partnership with Fiji as co-chair and the Taskforce’s Steering Committee, including the US, Germany and Sweden. The Taskforce’s approach responds to calls for reform from developing countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This year, the focus is on implementation and will help ensure climate vulnerable countries and communities get the finance they need faster, and in alignment with their own plans and priorities.

At COP26, over $450m was mobilised for initiatives and programmes enhancing locally-led adaptation approaches through the Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR), Financing Locally-Led Climate Action Program (FLLoCA), Community Resilience Partnership Program (CRPP) and the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance.

The UK Presidency is encouraging commitments from climate providers to set out how they are getting behind the need to implement the Principles for Locally-led adaptation (which currently have over 70 endorsements from governments and organisations), with further finance into relevant climate funds, programmes and initiatives relevant to locally-led adaptation, and enhanced access to finance to support delivery of national and local adaptation priorities.