Gordon Brown tables £10bn fund to fight climate change worldwide

Published on Friday 27 November 2009 21:39

A £10 billion fund to help halt climate change has been proposed by Gordon Brown at a meeting of heads of Commonwealth governments.

The Prime Minister unveiled his plan in Trinidad, where the Queen, heads of government from the Commonwealth and other statesmen, including the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, met yesterday.

Taxpayers in the UK will fund 800 million towards urging developing countries to stop deforestation and cut their gas emissions.

Mr Brown's recommendations came ten days ahead of a key United Nations summit on climate change in Copenhagen, where developed countries will try to urge their poorer counterparts to sign up to more stringent targets on pollution.

Giving developing countries more help from the western world would be the key to breaking the deadlock on a potential deal, Mr Brown said.

The Copenhagen Launch Fund would start paying out in 2010 and be worth $100bn annually by 2012, delivering funds to poorer states on a "payment by results" system, under which those that showed they were taking action to halt climate change would receive more cash.

Mr Sarkozy – who is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to discuss Europe's response to global warming – and the United States are also expected to back the fund.

Mr Brown said ambitions were high, but finance was needed to back up the aims: "I think it is very important that the deadlock is broken.

"The poorer countries must have an understanding that the richer countries will help them adapt to climate change and make the necessary adjustments in their economies.

"We have got to provide some money to help that. Britain will do so, the rest of Europe will do so and I believe America will do so as well."

He added: "Our ambitions are very high. Countries are making big announcements about cutting carbon. At the same time, we have to finance it, otherwise there would be no deal."

Resources from the Launch Fund would be split 50-50 between support for poor countries to adapt to the effects of warmer climates and measures to limit the rise in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.

Adaptation measures could include the construction of sea walls and flood defences in low-lying countries, such as Bangladesh, the development of low-water agricultural methods for African countries suffering from drought and defences against the hurricanes which are becoming a more frequent menace in areas such as the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, a "substantial proportion" of the mitigation cash would be devoted to halting deforestation, in order to preserve the carbon "sinks" which are crucial to taking out of the atmosphere.

Deforestation is believed to be responsible for a fifth of the changes causing global warming.

Other mitigation measures would include the development of low-carbon energy generation in developing countries, which are expected to provide 90 per cent of the increase in carbon emissions over coming years if action is not taken to direct them away from fossil fuels.

At the opening of the Trinidad meeting, the Queen also made an appeal to stop climate change.

"The threat to our environment is not a new concern, but it is now a global challenge which will continue to affect the security and stability of millions for years to come," she said.