Britain’s Sunak tries to reclaim climate narrative with $2 bln pledge.

During the United Nations climate meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will commit to providing funds for 1.6 billion pounds, equivalent to $2 billion. This is an attempt to enhance his green credentials after he watered down Britain’s requirements to reach net-zero ambitions.

In Dubai for the leaders’ day of the COP28 conference, Sunak will try to reestablish Britain’s status as a leader in the fight against climate change. He will do this by agreeing to spend most of the additional money on initiatives in Africa and Asia that aim to combat deforestation and energy innovation.

But he will also emphasize Britain’s “pragmatic” attitude to climate change, which is a label he has maintained ever since environmental activists criticized him for postponing a ban on sales of new gasoline-powered automobiles, making the transfer to heat pumps easier, and giving new licenses for drilling in the North Sea.

As the opposition Labour Party continues to fall more and farther behind in the polls in advance of the national election that is anticipated to take place the following year, Sunak’s team believes that people would only approve steps to combat climate change if and when they are affordable.

During past COP meetings, the world made several bold commitments to keep the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees. Nevertheless, the time for making commitments has come to an end; now is the time for taking action, Sunak said in a statement.

We should all be safer and better off due to the transition to net-zero consumption. It should be beneficial to families rather than a burden to them. When it comes to making pragmatic and long-term judgments at home, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront.

Up to 500 million pounds will be allocated to address the causes of deforestation, 316 million pounds will be allocated to energy innovation projects worldwide, and up to 60 million pounds will be allocated to compensate for loss and damage. The cash will be disclosed during the second week of the summit.

King Charles, who has long been an environmental activist, will deliver the summit’s opening address. In his speech, he will urge the leaders of the globe to see the repeated warning signals of the effect of climate change and to take “genuine transformational action.”