UK MPs call for more funding for climate adaptation and longer term framework for action

Monday, 15 June 2009 10:40

SEI climate adaptation expert Tom Downing expert advisor to House of Commons' International Development Committee.

- Britain must urgently help poor countries tackle climate change or the gains made by years of development aid could be wiped out.

This is the key message from a report recently published by the UK Parliament House of Commons' International Development Committe. The committee, which is appointed to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for International Development, urges the UK government to take a moral lead and find new money for poor countries that are hit hard by storms, floods and droughts.

- Developing countries are not responsible for the emissions which have caused climate change and the estimated costs cannot be met from existing development assistance or national budgets, the report says, urging the Department for International Development to integrate climate change into its poverty alleviation programmes, especially in Africa.

SEI assisted committee field visit
SEI researcher Thomas E. Downing acted as special adviser for the committee together with SEI Oxford board member Dr Benito Müller of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

SEI also assisted the committee during its field visit to Kenya and Tanzania, where new SEI offices have been set up to help build capacity on climate policy in East Africa. SEI Oxford researcher Adriaan Tas put together a team of experts in Kenya, including SEI colleague Basra Ali, to answer questions raised by the Committee and further discuss issues related to climate change adaptation, vulnerability, mitigation and others.

For further details, contact Prof. Thomas E. Downing

Download the report here