Climate change: WWF warns UK isn't spending enough
- Published
- comments
The UK isn't spending enough money on its measures to tackle global warming, according to the environmental charity the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Its analysis of what Britain is spending suggests the amount is far less than what official guidance says is needed to meet its ambitions.
The government's own advisory Climate Change Committee says countries should be allotting 1% of national wealth - or GDP (Gross Domestic Product) - each year towards making sure goals on climate change are met.
However, the charity's research says the budget for green policies is actually less than one-hundredth of that.
It says new green policies in the March 2021 Budget add up to just 0.01% of GDP.
The Woodland Trust aims to plant millions of each year, but can it be done without using plastic?
In November the prime minister promised 拢12bn for a 10-point plan "green industrial revolution".
However, the WWF calculates Britain will spend more than three times as much - 拢40bn - on polluting activities as it does on cutting carbon emissions.
A Treasury spokesperson defended the government's record and said a comprehensive strategy for financing the "green revolution" would be outlined in the autumn.
They said: "The UK is a world leader in the global effort to tackle climate change, growing our economy by 78% while cutting emissions by 44% over the past three decades and being the first major economy to legislate to reach net zero emissions by 2050."
It's as the UK is getting ready to host a big climate change summit in Glasgow in November called Cop26.
The prime minister has promised a full suite of policies will be announced before it.
- Published9 August 2021
- Published28 April 2020
- Published14 September 2020
