THE UK is to fund renewable power in Africa as part of an initiative to tackle climate change and reduce poverty.
Ed Davey, the energy and climate change minister made the announcement today in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, for the second week of the UN climate talks.
Sustainable farming in Colombia is the other innovative programme to be funded by the UK.
The projects will be financed by the UK’s International Climate Fund.
Mr Davey said: “Climate change is a global threat and with every passing year, the nature and the extent of that threat grows clearer. We also recognise that the world’s poorest will be hit the hardest by the impacts of climate change and we need to help communities adapt to these challenges.
“Climate finance is fundamental to building resilience and capacity for countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Our focus will be on results that make a difference on the ground and we are working with a variety of partners, including developing countries, other donors organisations and the private sector to deliver this.
The package includes two programmes to help stimulate private sector investment to provide low carbon energy in Africa, a programme to reduce emissions from cattle ranching and support smallholder farmers in Colombia and a programme to help developing countries to develop strategies to reduce their emissions.
Currently the UK is working with Norway, Germany and Uganda to support the development and completion of small-scale on-grid renewable energy projects in Uganda in an effort to both avoid an energy shortfall and promote private sector investment. They will provide a £14million contribution.
