The United Kingdom’s Indo-Pacific Minister Catherine West announced £12.9 million in new climate funding on her first overseas visit.
The UK is providing targeted funding and expertise to support Pacific-led climate action,Minister West told a meeting of regional leaders in Tonga.
Minister West’s first overseas travel saw her arrive in New Zealand Sunday, 25 August, for discussions focused on climate, defence and trade before travelling to Nuku’alofa on Tuesday 27 August to attend a meeting of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, Minister West said: “The government is seeking to reconnect the UK with partners around the world and to return to the forefront of international climate action. The climate crisis needs global, long-term action – but we must also take rapid steps to support countries on the frontline, like our partners in the Pacific. That is why the UK is supporting Pacific-led action to equip vulnerable communities facing the impacts of climate change with £12.9 million in new funding.”
The programmes being announced are:
- Technical support worth £1.3 million to establish a new Pacific Resilience Facility, a regionally-governed investment fund through which countries will be able to access long-term, reliable climate finance .
- £5 million further funding for the UK’s Transforming Energy Access (TEA) Pacific programme, which supports early testing and scaling of new technology to provide communities with clean, affordable energy. Among the projects already being supported by the TEA fund are a solar and hydrogen powered ‘mini grid’ system providing clean water and oxygen to a remote hospital in Papua New Guinea, serving 15,000 people.
- Technical assistance and training worth £2 million to develop evidence-based financial and climate finance policy, provided through the International Monetary Fund .
- £3 million for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the foremost Pacific-led organisation for environment and nature conservation
- £1.6 million for the new Digital Earth Pacific programme, a regional initiative which monitors how environments are changing over time through satellite data, enabling governments and communities to better understand and respond to the impacts of climate change.
In addition to climate action, the minister will discuss UK work to strengthen defence and economic links with PIF members including through police training and the UK’s Trade Partnerships Programme. While in Tonga the minister will also celebrate the role of sport in tackling gender inequality, with the delivery of UK-funded rugby kit for local women and girls’ teams.
In Wellington, talks focused on joint action to protect regional and global security including support for Ukraine and New Zealand’s ongoing contribution to Operation Interflex, which has so far trained over 30,000 Ukrainian troops in the UK.
Minister West will set out the UK’s ambition to reach zero carbon electricity by 2030 with a visit to Octopus Energy, a UK clean energy provider. Clean energy cooperation is among the sectors boosted by the implementation of the UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which entered into force in May 2023 and is expected to increase total 2-way trade by 60% by 2035.
Since taking office in July 2024 Foreign Secretary David Lammy has pledged to reconnect the UK with global partners to ensure security and prosperity at home and around the world. This includes pushing for global coordinated action to address the climate and nature emergency, in partnership with countries facing its worst impacts.
Background
New funding for the Transforming Energy Access Pacific programme includes:
£4 million contribution to the World Bank’s Accelerating Sustainable Energy Transition (ASET) programme, which will increase renewable energy generation capacity and enhance the financial and environmental sustainability of the power sector in the Pacific (including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga)
£1 million to support the Pacific Community’s Framework for Energy Security and Resilience in the Pacific (FESRIP) including development and implementation of robust national energy policies and regulations, capacity development and improve gender balance in the energy sector.
--
