Aid agencies have called on prime minister Andy Burnham to address drivers of inequality, injustice and poverty following the decision to reallocate international aid to help fight the climate crisis towards funding a cap on UK bus fares.
The heads of 98 organisations, including Oxfam GB, WaterAid and ActionAid UK, have warned that countries already trapped in unfair debt cycles could be left with few choices but to borrow more to address the climate crisis. They highlighted that the crisis is not of their making.
“Politicians must stop pitting the needs of the British public against the needs of people in the majority World by raiding the already diminished UK aid budget to fund domestic spending,” the joint statement said. “Both face many of the same underlying challenges.”
The prime minister announced last week that he would change international climate donations into repayable loans to reduce the fare cap from £3 a journey to £2 next year. Around £400 million is expected to go towards the initiative by replacing international climate finance grants with loans, allowing the government to borrow more without violating its borrowing rules.
Charities have said that the world’s most vulnerable people will be put at risk by the decision.
The change to loans could see countries who are able to repay them, such as middle-income countries, prioritised.
“Fairly taxing the wealthiest and largest polluters in society would generate tens of billions a year in public finance to increase international commitments and domestic action,” the joint statement said.
It also urged the UK to use its upcoming G20 presidency to reform the global financial system to help deliver “greater fairness, opportunity and prosperity for ordinary people” in the UK and abroad.
“The decisions [the new government] will make now will impact lives, and the climate, for decades to come,” said Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Bond, the UK network for NGOs.
“Together, we call on prime minister Burnham to carry the spirit of Manchesterism to the world: by tackling global challenges that hold back progress, and help build a more sustainable and just future for us all.”
"If this is the tone being set in Mr Burnham's first week in office, it raises troubling questions about the UK's commitment to international climate action over the next four years,” said Tim Ingram, Head of UK Advocacy at WaterAid.
This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project
