The United Kingdom has scaled back its financial commitments to rainforest conservation in the Congo basin, canceling or reducing multiple initiatives that were intended to address forest loss and support local communities. These projects represented approximately half of a £200 million pledge the UK made to support conservation efforts in the Congo basin region.
When the UK hosted COP26, it led an initiative to combat deforestation and joined 12 other donors in committing at least $1.5 billion to Congo rainforest nations by 2025. However, development minister Jenny Chapman disclosed that as of 2024, the UK had only contributed £39.8 million toward this objective. The UK’s Congo Basin Forest Action Programme, which was designed to deliver roughly half of the £200 million pledge, has been dramatically reduced from an original £90 million budget to £18.8 million. Additionally, the Congo component of the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund, valued at approximately £12.3 million, has been terminated just two years into its scheduled seven-year period.
These reductions reflect broader cuts to the UK’s aid budget implemented by both preceding and current governments, a trend observed across developed nations. The government attributes these changes to the need to allocate resources to defense spending. Officials acknowledged operational challenges in the region, including complex political circumstances and geopolitical disruptions such as military instability in Gabon.
The UK government maintains that it remains committed to forest conservation in the Congo basin and that it has satisfied its five-year climate finance targets. However, the government removed specific funding allocations for nature and forests from its latest climate finance pledge covering 2026 onward, moving away from designated budgets for these sectors. Conservation organizations and parliamentary members have expressed concern about the absence of protected forest funding in the UK’s revised aid strategy and question whether international commitments to developing nations can be relied upon going forward.
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