Correspondence on COP27 donation: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
Government correspondence relating to the decision making process that decided what budget the recent £5m funding was taken from, information on which countries the £5m will be gifted to, information on what the £5m is intended to be used, information on what monitoring process is in place and information on what the previous £2m committed to loss and damage at COP26 has been spent on.
Response
Officials recommended the £5m for action to address loss and damage, announced at COP27, should come from the Climate Justice Funds which were hitherto unallocated. The £5m fits within the Fund given it aims to tackle the disproportionate impacts of climate change felt by women and girls in the Global South. It is the same fund that the was trebled at COP26 and the initial £2m for loss and damage came from. It forms part of the climate budget held by Director-General Net Zero.
The approval process was subject to a number of steps; officials requested approval from the Director- General for Net-Zero and the Permanent Secretary. Upon receiving approval from the Permanent Sectary, officials requested approval from the Minister for Environment and Land Reform. She approved the request on 3rd November 2022.
Approval to commit the £5 million to action to address climate induced loss and damage was received through email exchanges. I enclose a copy of the information you have requested, in the form email exchanges and the accompanying documents included in the exchanges.
The £5m funding will be used for action to address climate induced loss and damage. The funding is not yet allocated but will be allocated on the recommendation of an independent needs assessment and undertaken in consultation with stakeholders and communities impacted by loss and damage. Decisions on how we will approach monitoring and evaluation will also be taken in consultation with stakeholders and communities.
Of the £2m previously committed at COP26, £1.7m has been delivered through grants. £1 million was granted to the Climate Justice Resilience Fund, £500k to The Scottish Catholic International Fund , £75k to Stockholm Environment Institute and £150k to the International Centre for Climate Change and Development. Further information on how these funds were spent can be found at How Scotland Spent its Loss and Damage Pledge (lossanddamagecollaboration.org)
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Central Enquiry Unit
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