Bloomberg— UK invests in Egyptian and Kenyan clean energy projects and finances the protection of the rainforest in the Congo Basin. the first minister Rishi SunakHe pledged British support for countries on the front lines of climate change.
Sunak will attend the climate summit on Monday COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, his first trip abroad as prime minister. He originally planned not to attend the meeting but changed his mind after critics questioned his commitment to the UK’s net-zero emissions campaign. He will hold a series of bilateral meetings, including with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Georgia Meloni.
The UK chaired the last COP in Glasgow before handing over the presidency to Egypt.
“By delivering on the promises we made in Glasgow, we can turn our fight against climate change into a global mission for new jobs and clean growth,” he said in a statement.
Sunak’s government is allocating £65.5 million ($74.5 million) to the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, which provides grants to researchers and scientists in developing countries to help accelerate the development of clean technologies. The UK will fund conservation of the Congo Basin, a tropical forest that is home to around 10,000 species of plants and several endangered species, with £90m.
“In recognition of the existential threat that climate change already poses around the world,” the UK is committing to tripling funding for climate adaptation from £500m in 2019 to £1.5bn in 2025, according to the statement.