UK slashes climate aid programmes for developing countries

"Several programmes intended to protect nature in vital ecosystems in Africa and Asia have been in effect axed. Other schemes have been reduced in scope, undermining their impact. One initiative, the 500m Blue Planet Fund set up after Sir David Attenborough's revelations of the plight of the marine environment in his Blue Planet series raised widespread public concern is also in question."

"The cutting and partial closure of the 100m Biodiverse Landscapes Fund, intended to protect nature in vital ecosystems in poor regions overseas. Six regions were originally targeted, in Africa, South America and Asia, but this has been reduced to two. Coast a project for Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition and Pact are having substantial cuts."

"These schemes should have been worth hundreds of millions of pounds but are likely to be substantially reduced, in some cases by more than half. It is difficult to gauge the exact budget cuts, because there is no transparent government system for accounting for ICF."

The UK government has implemented significant budget cuts to programmes protecting nature and climate in developing countries, contradicting public commitments to international climate finance obligations. Multiple initiatives have been substantially reduced or effectively terminated, including the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund, which was scaled from six target regions to two, and programmes like Coast and Pact have experienced substantial cuts. The 500m Blue Planet Fund, established following public concern raised by Sir David Attenborough's documentary, now faces uncertainty. These cuts remain largely hidden due to a lack of transparency in climate aid spending systems. Programmes originally valued at hundreds of millions of pounds are being reduced by more than half in some cases, making precise budget calculations difficult without transparent government accounting mechanisms.

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