Nicola Sturgeon increases funding for Climate Justice Fund

Nicola Sturgeon has announced £12m in funding to help mitigate the effects of climate change on the world’s most vulnerable populations.

The funding, part of the Scottish Government’s Climate Justice Fund, will be spent over the next four years.

Over the last five years the Climate Justice Fund has spent £6m on 11 projects in four sub-Saharan African countries.

RELATED CONTENT

Climate change and the Paris talks: Interview with Dr Aileen McLeod

What will come from the 2015 Paris climate talks?

Speaking at the Paris climate change summit, Sturgeon said: “We know that the most vulnerable are worst affected by climate change: the very young, the very old, the ill, and the very poor. Women are suffering disproportionately, since they are often the main providers of food, fuel and water.

“So, the people who have done least to cause climate change, and are least equipped to cope with its consequences, are the people who are being hit hardest. The scale of the injustice is massive.”

Environmental campaigners, development agencies and religious bodies welcomed the increase in funding.

SCIAF’s Director Alistair Dutton said warned that unpredictable weather means the world’s poorest people face greater risk of crops being wiped out by frequent and severe flash floods and droughts.

He said: “It’s a clear recognition that wealthy industrialised countries like Scotland have a clear responsibility to help poor countries cope with the huge climate challenges they face.”

Head of Oxfam Scotland, Jamie Livingstone, said: “We know climate change is already making the daily lives of the world’s poorest women, men and children even harder and it is the single biggest threat to winning the fight against hunger.

“Globally, and here in Scotland, we must limit the damage by reducing emissions, but we must also ramp up our support to help those already affected adapt their lives to unavoidable climate impacts.

“In this context, the Scottish Government’s enhanced commitment to climate justice is very welcome – it increases the funding promised and creates much needed predictability.”