The United Kingdom (UK) has announced the provision of £95 million to support Nigeria with respect to the development of climate-resilient agriculture programmes.
The funding, according to its Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, will support more than 4 million people, including 2 million women, to increase productivity while reducing emissions.
Announcing the support at the ongoing COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Cleverly disclosed that the investment is part of the efforts on tangible action to deliver on the commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow and support developing economies to tackle the impacts of climate change.
The statement reads: “The Prime Minister is expected to make a raft of adaptation-related announcements at the conference later today, including that the UK will triple funding for adaptation programmes from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion in 2025
“Cleverly will also argue that long-term prosperity depends on taking action on climate change and ramping up investment in renewable energy across the world, pointing to the impact of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine on the global economy.
“The Foreign Secretary will announce today that the UK will provide £20.7 million in Disaster Risk Financing to support countries which face climate-related disasters, helping them to afford insurance and to access reliable funding, more quickly, after a disaster.
“As an example, this funding will allow the World Food Programme to insure food supplies for almost 5 million people across 23 vulnerable countries in cases of climate-related disasters and will help small island developing states build resilience to extreme weather events.
“This support is part of the commitment made in 2021 at the UK G7 in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, to spend £120 million on Disaster Risk Financing.
“The UK will also announce several new funding allocations to support countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change over the longer term. The UK will spend £13 million to support vulnerable countries to adapt to climate impacts, and towards efforts to avert, minimise and address loss and damage, including through new funding for the Santiago Network, an organisation set up to support vulnerable countries to access technical assistance.
“In Nigeria, the UK will provide a £95 million investment to support the development of climate-resilient agriculture programmes, for example through scaling up heat-tolerant crop varieties. The funding will support more than 4 million people, including 2 million women, to increase productivity while reducing emissions.
“Under the UK’s COP Presidency, almost all developed country climate finance providers made new, forward-looking climate finance commitments, with many doubling or even quadrupling support for developing countries to take climate action.”
