The government is planning major UK climate aid cuts that will reduce financial support to poorer countries hit hardest by the climate crisis by more than a fifth, despite repeated pledges to increase assistance and mounting warnings from experts that the move could cost lives and destabilise regions vital to Britain’s own security.
Ministers are preparing to cut international climate finance for developing countries from £11.6bn over the past five years to £9bn over the next five. In real terms, once inflation is taken into account, the reduction represents an estimated 40% fall in spending power compared with 2021, when the original £11.6bn commitment was agreed.
Treasury-led cuts despite security warnings
The planned reduction, driven by the Treasury, comes despite recent warnings from the UK’s intelligence community that environmental collapse overseas poses direct risks to Britain’s national security. Senior officials have cautioned that the breakdown of ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest or the Congo Basin could trigger soaring global food prices, political instability and even armed conflict that would ultimately affect the UK.
The decision also comes just a year after the UK joined other wealthy nations in pledging to triple global climate finance to $300bn a year by 2035, an agreement intended to reflect the scale of climate disasters already unfolding across the developing world. Although the deal did not specify individual country contributions, a reduction by the UK will make that collective target harder to reach.
Campaigners warn of global consequences
Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, said the proposed cuts would have devastating consequences.
“For vulnerable countries, UK climate finance isn’t an abstract budget line – it’s the difference between resilience and disaster,” he said. “Cutting it at this moment will cost lives and livelihoods.”
Adow also warned that Britain’s retreat could encourage other countries to follow suit, particularly as Donald Trump moves to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement and its parent body, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, while abandoning US climate finance targets altogether.
“If the UK breaks its commitments, it gives cover for others to do the same, with devastating consequences for global climate action,” Adow said.
Aid budget under pressure since cuts to GNI target
The new round of international climate funding, known inside government as ICF4, is still being negotiated within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. This is the fourth major climate finance package since 2010 and is funded from the UK’s overseas aid budget.
That budget has been under sustained pressure since overseas aid was cut to 0.3% of gross national income last year. Until 2021, the UK had spent 0.7% of GNI on foreign aid, before then prime minister Boris Johnson reduced it to 0.5%, citing pandemic-related pressures.
Under current plans, the £9bn climate pledge would amount to around £2bn a year for the next three years, falling to about £1.5bn a year in 2029-30 and 2030-31, beyond the life of the current parliament. Treasury officials are reportedly reluctant to commit funds beyond the existing three-year spending review, although MPs and several government departments have argued that a five-year commitment is essential for long-term climate planning.
Concerns over rebadging and transparency
Beyond the headline reduction, civil servants are reportedly scrambling to “rebadge” existing aid projects under the climate finance label. Officials have suggested that up to 30% of aid to the least developed countries could be counted as climate spending, even where projects focused on education or health have limited direct relevance to climate mitigation or adaptation.
Experts warn this risks hollowing out the meaning of climate finance altogether. Since Brexit, the UK no longer follows EU reporting standards on climate spending, leading to growing concerns about transparency.
“We could get to a situation where the label climate finance is meaningless,” said one expert, “because we will have no idea what it is really spent on and where.”
Nature funding also at risk
Funding for nature conservation is also under threat. Officials are locked in internal arguments over whether to maintain a £3bn ringfence within the climate budget for nature-based solutions.
Flagship initiatives such as the Blue Planet Fund, launched after public concern sparked by David Attenborough’s documentaries on ocean degradation, are expected to survive but face significant reductions, described by insiders as a “haircut”.
The issue is compounded by shifting priorities at the top of government. The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, did not attend Cop30 in Brazil last November and is reported to have received her first major climate briefing only last December. By contrast, her predecessor David Lammy made climate diplomacy a central plank of his tenure, appointing dedicated climate and nature envoys.
UK interests at stake, experts say
Developing country specialists argue that slashing climate finance will damage Britain’s global standing as well as its national interest. Harjeet Singh, cofounder of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, said the move undermined the UK’s claim to climate leadership.
“This shreds the UK’s standing on the world stage,” he said. “It proves to the global south that British promises are hollow, and that its ambition is shrinking, not leading.”
Jonathan Hall, managing director of Conservation International UK, pointed to a recent Joint Intelligence Committee report warning that environmental collapse overseas would feed directly into UK inflation and security risks.
“If you care about food prices you should care about the potential collapse of the rainforests,” he said. “If you care about global security you should care about the melting of the Himalayan glaciers.”
Hall argued that at least one-third of the UK’s climate finance budget should remain dedicated to protecting nature, warning that failure to do so would undermine long-term economic stability.
Government defends approach
A government spokesperson insisted the UK remained committed to international climate finance.
“The UK is on track to deliver £11.6bn in international climate finance by the end of this financial year,” the spokesperson said. “We are modernising our approach to ensure greater impact, ensuring every pound delivers for the UK taxpayer and the people we support.”
However, with cuts looming and transparency concerns mounting, critics warn that the planned UK climate aid cuts could mark a turning point in Britain’s role as a global climate partner.