UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak concluded his two-day-long visit to India as he departed on Sunday after attending a successful G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi.
“As the UK Prime minister departs from India. Congratulations to the G20 presidency, the G20 summit, which has been ambitious, inclusive, determined and action-oriented. A huge thank you to all of those involved. To our Indian hosts, who once again have shown atiti Devo Bhava,” British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis said today.
Sunak who arrived in the national capital on Friday, accompanied by wife Akshata Murty earlier today offered prayers at the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham temple before paying his respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.
Earlier on Friday, Sunak had in an interaction with ANI called himself “a proud Hindu” and said he wished to visit the Mandir during his stay in the capital.
In a significant announcement, the UK PM also announced a USD 2 billion to the UN-backed Green Climate Fund – the biggest single funding commitment the UK has made to help the world tackle climate change.
The UK will contribute USD 2 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was established by 194 countries following the Copenhagen Accord at COP15, which was established by 194 countries following the Copenhagen Accord at COP15. The GCF is the largest global fund dedicated to supporting developing countries to reduce global emissions and help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.
“Today’s pledge represents a 12.7 percent increase on the UK’s previous contribution to the GCF for the period of 2020-2023, which was itself a doubling of our initial funding to establish the fund in 2014,” according to a statement.
During the G20 Summit, the UK PM has called on leaders to work together ahead of the COP28 Summit this December to both reduce their countries’ own carbon emissions and support vulnerable economies to deal with the consequences of climate change.
The UK has led international efforts to help developing countries tackle climate change, including by pledging to spend 11.6 billion pounds on international climate finance between 2021 and 2026.
This announcement marks a “major contribution towards this commitment and follows the Prime Minister’s announcement at COP27 that the UK would triple our funding for climate adaptation,” according to a statement.
“The UK is stepping up and delivering on our climate commitments, both by decarbonizing our own economy and supporting the world’s most vulnerable to deal with the impact of climate change,” Sunak said in his address to G20 leaders.
The Group of 20 nations had on Saturday adopted a declaration that included reiterating its commitment to scale up sustainable finance to help developing countries reduce their carbon footprints.
