Exclusive:SNP to set out 'Donald Trump proof' climate finance 'leadership role' at COP29

Devolved governments can play a “clear leadership role” in levering in climate finance, an SNP minister will claim.

Scotland’s net zero secretary will insist devolved and regional governments can play a “clear leadership role” in kick-starting innovative climate financing methods amid fears Donald Trump could tear a hole in global efforts.

Gillian Martin, the SNP’s acting net zero and energy secretary, will set out the suggestion when she speaks at COP29 today at the Scottish Government’s panel on loss and damage.

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SNP acting net zero and energy secretary Gillian Martin SNP acting net zero and energy secretary Gillian Martin
SNP acting net zero and energy secretary Gillian Martin | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Ms Martin will issue the call amid concerns the United States is poised to give up its leadership on climate under Mr Trump, which could put a climate funding push for the global south at risk of falling flat.

Some state leaders in the US are trying to “Trump proof” climate policies ahead of his return to the White House next year, while China is poised to emerge alone as a clean energy superpower.

The Scottish Government has been instrumental in getting a loss and damage fund, reparations for climate damage impacting global south nations on the frontline of the climate crisis, on the global agenda. 

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With the focus of COP29, being held in Baku, centring around climate finance, Ms Martin will today insist the Scottish Government and other regional administrations can innovate ways of financing climate justice and scaling methods up across the world.

Speaking in Baku, Ms Martin is expected to say “there is a clear leadership role for sub-national governments, to pilot approaches that can be scaled by bigger funders”.

The COP29 climate conference is taking place in Baku, AzerbaijanThe COP29 climate conference is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan
The COP29 climate conference is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan | Getty Images

She will add that “quick experimentation is needed”, as well as “good mechanisms for sharing what has worked – and what has not”.

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Ms Martin will highlight the centre of the Scottish Government’s climate justice strategy has been an “acknowledgment that those least responsible for the global climate emergency are being affected first and most severely by it”, while “climate change exacerbates existing inequalities”.

The Cabinet secretary will reiterate the Scottish Government becoming the first global north government to commit to funding “served as a catalyst towards the establishment of the fund to respond to loss and damage at COP27”.

She will add: “Our belief has always been that practical action is needed now. We cannot wait. So we have not just pledged funds, but we have mobilised them.

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“Since COP26, we’ve been testing different approaches to funding to address loss and damage – from a rapid a response window, to unconditional cash transfers, to support for urban and non-economic loss and damage.”

Ms Martin will stress the Scottish Government has been “awarding funding as grants, not loans”, which she will stress ensures “it reaches vulnerable communities quickly”.

The SNP minister’s appeal comes after it was announced a finance scheme designed to raise up to £58 billion of clean energy projects in poorer countries is to launch on the London Stock Exchange.

The scheme, set up by green finance body the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), is a new financial mechanism designed to boost climate funding globally.

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Keir Starmer at COP29Keir Starmer at COP29
Keir Starmer at COP29 | Carl Court/PA Wire

The UK government said the finance tool would be launched following a meeting between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the president of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, at COP29.

Sir Keir said it was “high time the private sector played their part in this”.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir and Mr Banga “agreed on the importance of mobilising private finance to strengthen action to tackle the climate challenge, and the Prime Minister welcomed the World Bank’s ambition in this area”.

They added the deal showed London as “a green finance capital, and bolstered Britain as an attractive place to invest in the future”.

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