Praise for First Minister's COP26 speech

Yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made a speech to young people in Glasgow about what she hopes will be acheived at COP26. She called on world leaders to listen to people from the world's poorest places, who are often most affected by climate change and also stressed the importance of financial support for countries in the Global South. Our Chief Executive, Alistair Dutton, made the following statement in response to the speech. 

“The First Minister has shown significant leadership today on the key issue of providing money to developing countries to help with the Loss and Damage caused by climate change.

"This is one of the most important commitments we need from world leaders at COP26 - a fair finance package for low-income countries. This should be in grant-form, not as loans. The people on the frontline of the climate emergency, including those SCIAF helps abroad, are already suffering. Rich countries cannot turn a blind eye to the crisis they have caused now that help is needed.

"We’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with those from the Global South at COP26 and are glad the First Minister has provided leadership on this important issue.

"We’re pleased to see an increase in funding to the Climate Justice Fund, which has been frozen for years. This will no doubt help those dealing with the consequences of the climate crisis. It is vital that money enables people to both adapt to their changing climates and overcome the losses and damages they have suffered. This should increase year on year via the Climate Justice Fund."