New Fund To Keep People Safer From Climate Disasters

Spanish Congress Passes Climate Change Law

New fund to help people impacted by climate change and disasters. File Photo, EWN

A new fund to keep people safer from climate disasters has been launched. The package of support from the UK, Germany and USA will protect lives and tackle loss and damage caused by climate change.

A package of support, including £120 million in new funding from the UK and €125 million in new funding from Germany, will enable quicker responses for vulnerable people when extreme weather and climate-linked disasters hit.

Pre-arranged financing for vulnerable communities will help build the systems needed to reach the poorest people quickly, such as payments when harvest fail.

UK Foreign and Development Secretary Dominic Raab said, “Tackling climate change is one of the greatest threats of our time as without action, it could push more than 100 million people below the poverty line as soon as 2030.This joint UK, US and German action will enable quicker responses to extreme weather and climate-linked disasters in countries bearing the brunt of climate change.”

The fund will protect those most at risk and help reduce losses and damage to communities, infrastructure and livelihoods caused by climate change. It comes ahead of the UK’s hosting of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, in November 2021 which must make progress on helping poor communities adapt to climate change.

The UK and Germany will also use this money to invest in the regional disaster protection schemes across Africa, South East Asia, the Caribbean and Pacific to protect the lives and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people against climate risks. This support contributes to the InsuResilience Global Partnership’s Vision 2025 and the Risk Informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) – two key global coalitions working to reduce the impact of disasters.

In addition, the USA confirmed it will join the UK, Germany and other G7 countries as a member of the InsuResilience Global Partnership and REAP.

The severity and frequency of severe weather and climate-linked natural disasters is increasing as climate change worsens. Developing countries, women, girls and other often marginalised groups are worst affected.

Ambassador Samantha Power, Administrator of USAID, added, “Investments that help communities adapt and build resilience to climate change is not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing. Every dollar we invest in adaptation and resilience saves us $3 in humanitarian assistance when crisis strikes.”


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Deirdre Tynan

Deirdre Tynan is an award-winning journalist who enjoys bringing the best in news reporting to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper, Euro Weekly News. She has previously worked at The Mirror, Ireland on Sunday and for news agencies, media outlets and international organisations in America, Europe and Asia. A huge fan of British politics and newspapers, Deirdre is equally fascinated by the political scene in Madrid and Sevilla. She moved to Spain in 2018 and is based in Jaen.

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