British government denies report that it's planning to drop £11.6bn climate pledge

The British government is mulling over dropping its crucial £11.6 billion climate finance pledge, The Guardian reported further alleging that the administration has betrayed climate action.

The outlet mentioned in its reportage that it has seen a leaked briefing note to ministers, which was given to the Foreign Office.

The note mentions all the reasons for abandoning the nation's contribution to meeting the global $100 billion-a-year commitment to developing countries.

As quoted by the report, the leaked note says, "Our commitment to double our international climate finance to £11.6bn was made in 2019, when we were still at 0.7 [% of GDP spent on international aid] and pre-Covid."

It further added that in order to meet it by the deadline would be a "huge challenge" as there are new pressures, which also include the aid London is providing to the war-ravaged Ukraine.

UK government denies the report

Local reports have mentioned that the government has denied any such plans now and said it will "remain committed" to its promised plan.

A spokesperson from the British government said, "The government remains committed to spending £11.6bn on international climate finance and we are delivering on that pledge."

"We spent over £1.4bn on international climate finance over the course of the 2021/22 financial year, supporting developing countries to reduce poverty and respond to the causes and impacts of climate change. We will publish the latest annual figures in due course," the British government spokesperson further said.

As per the calculation, the UK government will have to spend 83 per cent of the total aid budget on the international climate fund so that it meets the £11.6bn pledge by 2026.

(With inputs from agencies)

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