UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today a commitment of at least £3 billion over 5 years to climate change solutions focused on protecting and restoring nature and biodiversity, to be allocated from the UK’s existing commitment of £11.6 billion for international climate finance.

According to the announcement, the funding aims to deliver transformational change in protecting biodiversity-rich land and ocean, shifting to sustainable food production and supply, and supporting the livelihoods of the world’s poorest.

The announcement is being made at the One Planet Summit, a leader-level virtual event convened by France. Johnson will address a session at the summit on Financing for Biodiversity, to call on others to raise their level of ambition on funding for nature and to mobilise public and private finance for sustainable solutions to climate change.

PM Johnson said:

“We will not achieve our goals on climate change, sustainable development or preventing pandemics if we fail to take care of the natural world that provides us with the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.

“The UK is already leading the way in this area, committing to protect 30 percent of our land and ocean by the end of the decade and pledging at least £3bn today to supporting nature and biodiversity.

“We must work together as a global community to drive the ambitious change and investment we need to protect our shared planet and the glorious, rich and diverse life within it.”