UK to contribute over £140m to help fight climate change

More than £140m has been pledged by the Government to help stop deforestation and illegal logging in poor countries, as part of efforts to tackle climate change.

Some £60m in new support has been announced to develop partnerships between international businesses, communities and local farmers to manage forests sustainably and encourage farming that does not lead to further deforestation.

It will support 10 to 15 major public-private partnerships with companies committed to taking deforestation out of the supply chain, so that products such as palm oil and timber can be produced without causing forest loss, the Government said.

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Smallholder palm oil farmers typically receive around half the yield they should compared to major plantations and supporting investments to help them increase productivity can boost yields without clearing more 
forests, the Department for International Development (Dfid) 
said.

And an extra £84m is being put into an existing programme to end illegal logging, backing efforts to close the EU market to illegally-harvested timber and helping developing countries tackle weak governance that allows the crime to flourish.

The funding is being announced by International Development Secretary Justine Greening in New York, ahead of tomorrow’s UN summit on climate change which more than 120 world leaders are expected to attend.

Ms Greening warned climate change could undo efforts to tackle poverty.

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Climate change has the potential to halt or undo the progress we have made in the last two decades.

“Without action the world will get hungrier, poorer and more dangerous in the years to come.

“There is no point building a health clinic for poor people in Bangladesh if it will get washed away by the next floods,” she 
 said.

“Investing in the better management of natural resources and putting a stop to deforestation is the smart thing to do.

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“British businesses are 
already leading the way in setting up long-term sustainable supply chains.

“Our assistance will help companies, communities, smallholders and governments work together to reduce deforestation and increase crop yields.”