Written question asked by Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) on Monday, 9 February 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 February 2009. It was answered by Gareth Thomas (Labour) on Thursday, 12 February 2009 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

United Nations: Climate Change

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) financial and (b) in-kind contribution his Department made to the United Nations Adaptation Fund in 2008-09; what allocation he plans to make to the Fund in each of the next three financial years; whether such contributions are earmarked for specific projects; and whether such contributions will be repaid.

Answer: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided an advance of £500,000 to support the set-up of the Adaptation Fund (AF) in 2008-09 and has pledged up to £500,000 more if needed for the same purpose, making the UK the biggest contributor to the AF Board so far. Decisions on how our contributions are used are taken by the AF Board. The fund's main source of income will be from a 2 per cent. levy on proceeds from Certified Emissions Reductions generated by the Clean Development Mechanism. Decisions on contributions beyond the 2 per cent. levy to the AF will be made when it becomes operational, and when its future role and scale becomes clearer through the climate change negotiations. DFID is also providing advisory support with 20 per cent. of a senior adviser's time as the UK alternate member of the AF Board, and support by other DFID and DECC staff working on climate change.

Secondary information