Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 35
35
Accepted
Paragraph: 120
Provide clear transparency on spending of £1.5bn funding committed to addressing deforestation.
Recommendation
The UK Government should lead by example. We therefore welcome the recent confirmation that the UK is to maintain its flagship £11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge. The UK cannot step off the global stage in relation to its climate, nature and deforestation commitments. The Government should make it clear how the £1.5bn of funding specifically committed to activity to address deforestation is being spent. Greater transparency will ensure that this Government and future Governments can be held to account.
Government Response Summary
The government confirms it is on track to deliver its £1.5 billion forest funding pledge, detailing £345 million spent in 2021-23 and announcing £576 million in new programming at COP28. It also states its commitment to transparency, publishing annual progress reports, and provides an overview of ICF forest spend.
Paragraph Reference:
120
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government remains steadfast in its commitment to invest at least £1.5 billion UK International Climate Finance to protect and restore forests while delivering sustainable development over the ICF3 period (April 2021 – March 2026). We are on track to deliver on this commitment. Over financial years 2021–22 and 2022–23 (the first two years of ICF3), we have spent around £345m on forest programming (ref. Table 1 below) and continue to work to develop a robust pipeline of programmes and investments to deliver the remainder of our pledge by the end of ICF3. This also forms our contribution to the Global Forest Finance Pledge (GFFP), a commitment made by donors at COP26 to deliver $12 billion (£8.75 billion) to support forest protection, restoration, and sustainable management over 2021 – 2025. At COP28, we announced £576 million new forests programming, of which £466m will deliver support beyond ICF3. This included a £35m uplift in UK support for the Amazon Fund, and up to £500m for the second phase of our flagship Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (IFSLU) programme over the next ten years, which we expect to mobilise £2 billion in private investment, directly benefit half a million people – mainly smallholders and poor rural communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change – and protect and restore forests across an area of 10 million hectares. The UK remains committed to transparency across our ODA support, the UK, together with GFFP partners, publishes a summary of progress made against delivering our collective $12 billion pledge annually in the Global Forest Finance Pledge Progress Report. Please find in Figure 1 below detail of UK ICF forest spend over financial years 2021–22 and 2022–23. Note – this list is non-exhaustive and includes only programmes that disbursed monies over these two years.