The UK could be asked to pay into a staggering £1trillion fund for poor countries fighting climate change at this years COP29 summit.
Richer and more well-off countries around the globe are set to face mounting pressure to donate money to help poorer nations invest in renewable energy sources during the two-week summit which begins on Monday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
Leaders in developing nations across the planet are pushing for a mega fund of up to £1trillion which would be funded from the pockets of wealthier countries and injections of investment from the private sector.
Evans Njewa, the chairman of the Less Developed Countries group at the United Nations negotiations, said: A failure to conclude COP29 without a bold new finance goal would be a tragic disservice to both the planet and vulnerable populations.
The UK has admitted that more money is required to help poorer countries in the fight against climate change, but has so far refused to spend more than its £11.6billion budget in foreign development aid, which ceases next year.
The UK will face calls to pay into a £1trillion pot to help poor countries tackle climate change at the COP29 summit which will begin Monday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan
Evans Njewa, the chairman of the Less Developed Countries group at the United Nations negotiations, said: A failure to conclude COP29 without a bold new finance goal would be a tragic disservice to both the planet and vulnerable populations
As well as the question of who should be expected to cover the funding needed, the re-election of Donald Trump as US president has also cast doubts over the role America will play in tackling the climate crisis.
It comes as Trump promised to pull out of the Paris Agreement - leaving the US as one of the only countries not to be a party to the 2015 pact, in which nearly 200 governments have made pledges to reduce their pollution.
The Biden administration will be negotiating during the two-week summit, but many countries may be cautious about making commitments that may quickly be undone by Trump.
Governments are now scrambling to save crucial alliances that were headed by the outgoing US president, Joe Biden, who made climate change one of his top priorities during his term.
Though a team from the Biden White House will still attend the COP29 meetings, the highly-likely possibility that Trump will withdraw US support means other countries will have to set back their expectations due to the potential absence of the worlds biggest economy.
The UK energy secretary, Ed Miliband, also shared his warnings that the UK must ramp up its efforts on renewable energy to foster national security.
He pledged that the UK would lead efforts at Cop29 to secure the global agreement needed to stave off the worst impacts of climate breakdown.
The only way to keep the British people secure today is by making Britain a clean-energy superpower, and the only way we protect future generations is by working with other countries to deliver climate action, Miliband told the Observer.
The Biden administration will be negotiating during the two-week summit, but many countries may be cautious about making commitments that may quickly be undone by Trump
The climate change committee, the Governments advisers on net zero, recently recommended an 81 per cent drop on 1990 levels of emission within a decade
Starmer is expected to relay his Governments commitments to net zero, including bringing forward the date to achieve 100 per cent green power by 2030
Trump promised to pull out of the Paris Agreement - leaving the US as one of the only countries not to be a party to the 2015 pact, in which nearly 200 governments have made pledges to reduce their pollution
This government is committed to accelerating climate action precisely because it is by doing this that we protect our country, with energy security, lower bills, and good jobs.
UK PM Keir Starmer, who will spend nearly two days at the summit, is one of the few remaining leaders of the worlds biggest industrialised economies who will attend.
He is expected to announce strict new targets for the UK to cut greenhouse gases by 2035, and a commitment to fulfil a pledge of £11.6bn in climate finance to poor countries, made under the Conservatives.
The climate change committee, the Governments advisers on net zero, recently recommended an 81 per cent drop on 1990 levels of emission within a decade.
Starmer is expected to relay his Governments commitments to net zero, including bringing forward the date to achieve 100 per cent green power by 2030.
A spokesman from the Foreign Office said: Tackling climate change is in the UKs national interest. By acting decisively and early, the UK has an opportunity to lead the world in the clean industries of the future.
Were honouring the last governments commitment to £11.6 billion of climate finance from 2021/22 to 2025/26.
The United States, among others, has called on China to contribute to the new global fund, but Beijing says widening the donor base would violate the Paris agreement principle that only richer countries should be obligated to provide finance.
Developed countries should earnestly meet their responsibilities to provide strong financial support for developing countries to cope with climate change, Mao Ning, the spokeswoman and deputy director of information at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
China is also urging countries at COP29 to refrain from protectionist measures that make it more expensive to cut emissions, it said in a climate action plan this week.