COP31: Frontline voices urge more support on climate from UK

• Activists from Brazil, Indonesia, Nepal, and Bangladesh - countries facing some of the biggest impacts of the climate crisis - are calling for the UK to meet its climate finance obligations and support countries least responsible for the crisis
• It comes as the UK Prime Minister faces questions about his integrity on the climate despite declaring his commitment to the UK's 2050 climate goal, and as rumours swirl that his government may water down targets for electric vehicles and approve the Rosebank oil and gas field
• Spokespeople from Friends of the Earth International groups are available for interview during the talks - please see the notes section for more information

Environmental justice campaigners from Nepal, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Brazil are calling on the UK to deliver the climate finance desperately needed to support countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, and to contribute the UK's fair share to global climate action.

The call comes after Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first address to the UN climate talks today in which he reaffirmed the UK's commitment to its 2050 climate target and pledged to a "new era of British leadership" on climate issues, but failed to offer anything meaningful in support for countries on the frontlines of climate breakdown.

The UK has made a series of significant rollbacks on public climate finance, including a hefty cut to the UK's foreign aid budget under Keir Starmer which was reallocated to defence spending. This was compounded by the current Prime Minister's recent decision to slash climate finance further still, by changing climate grants within the aid budget to repayable loans as a means to fund cheaper bus fares at home.

Last month, analysis from Carbon Brief also revealed that the UK has engaged in "questionable accounting" of its contribution to climate finance over the last five years, where as much as £2.1bn of existing overseas spending and private-sector investment has been relabelled as climate finance to meet benchmarks.

From devastating floods in Nepal and Bangladesh to deadly wildfires in Indonesia, communities are paying the price for a crisis they did little to create. As an exceptionally strong El Niño intensifies existing climate pressures, these countries face mounting threats to lives, livelihoods, food security and essential infrastructure.

Friends of the Earth Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil and Indonesia groups are warning that warm words and delayed promises will not protect communities from the escalating impacts of climate breakdown globally.

"Nepal is not asking for charity. Nepal is demanding justice."

Nepal is facing increasingly dangerous climate threats, from destabilising glaciers and devastating floods to disrupted rainfall that threatens agriculture and hydropower.

Earlier this year, Nepal experienced a catastrophic flash flood in Bhotekoshi that killed over 1,000 people, with many scientists acknowledging the role of climate breakdown in triggering the collapse of the glacier. Over 300,000 Nepalese people in the Himalayas are reported to be exposed to mounting flood risks.

Delays in international climate finance have exacerbated Nepal's vulnerability, Friends of the Earth Nepal argues. The environmental justice organisation condemns the seven-year delay by the Green Climate Fund - which the UK recently slashed its contribution to - in implementing an initiative designed to protect communities from precisely these kinds of threats, including through early-warning systems.

Prakash Dahal of Pro Public (Friends of the Earth Nepal), said:

"Climate justice, including fair and meaningful finance, is vital if we're to adapt to climate breakdown, help support our recovery, and to pay for the loss and damage already caused that can't be rectified.

"But crucially, this essential funding must come as grants - not loans. The latter risks deepening Nepal's debt burden and making its people pay twice: first through devastating climate consequences, and then through the financial obligations of rebuilding.

"Why should our communities, livelihoods, glaciers and mountains pay the price for a climate crisis we did little or nothing to create? Nepal is not asking for charity. Nepal is demanding justice."

Bangladesh: "This isn't resilience, it is survival"

Earlier this year, exceptionally heavy rainfall in southern Bangladesh affected more than a million people, and flooding destroyed over 75,000 households and killed at least 59 people. Landslides also destroyed shelters in the world's largest refugee camp, Cox's Bazar, home to approximately one million Rohingya refugees. Around 27,000 hectares of cropland were devastated and the flooding caused almost $20 million in livestock and fisheries losses.

Extreme heat is adding to the toll. Days above 35°C in Bangladesh more than doubled between 2022 and 2024, rising from 50 to 120. A strong El Niño threatens to bring further heat stress and water insecurity to the country, while disrupting monsoon rainfall. The consequences could be devastating for farmers, food production and millions of livelihoods.

Bareesh Chowdhury, campaigns and policy coordinator for the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA/Friends of the Earth Bangladesh), said:

"These extreme weather impacts are the new reality, and it goes beyond just one El Niño. There will be no respite.

"Year on year at the UN climate talks, our demands are consistent, but often they go in one ear and out the other. Adaptation is the urgent need, and finance must increase beyond the pittance available now. So far, only $1bn has been pledged to the Loss and Damage fund, far off the estimated $290-580bn annually needed.

"Bangladesh has long been praised for our resilience, as a developing nation that's forced to deal with so much. But let's call a spade a spade - this isn't resilience, it is survival. It is survival in the face of being condemned by those who caused the crisis."

Indonesia: Climate disasters, deadly fires and toxic haze will lead to "ecocide"

Fires have swept through parts of Borneo, Papua and Sumatra, reportedly killing at least 10 firefighters and volunteers. Indonesia's Ministry of Health recorded approximately 350,000 respiratory illness cases associated with forest and land fires between August and October alone.

The resulting smoke and polluted air exposed communities to dangerous particulate matter and serious health risks such as respiratory illness, heart attacks and strokes. Authorities have even rolled out "oxygen buses" to help people breathe more easily.

Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) warns that deforestation, peatland destruction, mining expansion, monoculture plantations and weak enforcement of environmental protections have made the country increasingly vulnerable to climate extremes. Its research found that 40% of hotspots where fire-risk was deemed highly likely, between August and October, were located within areas covered by corporate concession permits - those where companies are permitted to carry out their activities, often at a cost to the environment.

However, the communities fighting against these harms often face land ownership disputes and pressure from governments or businesses looking to exploit natural resources. Their work is rarely recorded or recognised as part of national or global efforts to tackle climate change.

Umi Ma'rufah, campaigner for forests and plantations for WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), said:

"The extreme El Niño phenomenon is putting further pressure on agriculture and food security, while increasing the risk of drought and forest and land fires. But these can't be attributed to El Niño alone. Their recurrence reflects years of deforestation, peatland destruction, mining expansion, monoculture plantations, weak law enforcement, and the failure to protect essential ecosystems. Meanwhile, it's communities that pay the highest price from the failure to prevent these environmental disasters.

"It's vital that rich countries formally recognise the important role that Indigenous Peoples and local communities must play, in being at the forefront of efforts to protect Indonesia's forests and threatened environment. That means affording them the right to manage and care for their land and natural resources. Without fundamental change in policies such as this, and without wealthy countries contributing their fair share to global climate finance, Indonesia will remain increasingly exposed to climate extremes, which will lead to ecocide, especially as El Niño strengthens."

Brazil: Living in the 'sacrifice zone'

Brazil is experiencing increasingly severe climate impacts, with El Niño expected to intensify drought, heat and wildfire risks across the Amazon. The Brazilian meteorological agency's forecast anticipates that the unusually strong El Niño will delay the Amazon's rainy season and reduce rainfall, while raising temperatures and drought risk.

The consequences are already visible: 1,679 fires were recorded in the first two weeks of October - a 250% increase since the year prior. These fires threaten biodiversity, the rainforest's ability to absorb carbon dioxide and public health, with air pollution contributing to school closures in Manaus.

At the same time, southern Brazil is facing increasingly destructive flooding. Rio Grande do Sul was hit by El Niño-induced storms in June.

This revived traumatic memories of horrific flooding two years earlier - one of Brazil's deadliest climate disasters - which killed nearly 200 people, destroyed 81,000 homes and displaced or made homeless 580,000 people.

Letícia Paranhos, chair of Amigos da Terra Brasil (Friends of the Earth Brazil), said:

"The climate emergency is not an abstract phenomenon, nor is it the fault of El Niño. It is driven by corporate overexploitation and so-called 'development' by rich countries that commodifies the land, rivers and people's lives, creating 'sacrifice zones' in Latin America where people and the environment are left to ruin.

"The planet is trying to regulate itself. Extreme heat, droughts and floods directly affect those on the frontlines: the exhausted rural worker in the fields, the delivery driver on the roads, and the working class who have to endure overcrowded buses without air conditioning.

"Today's so-called 'sustainable transition' often masks a new form of green colonialism that's only being upheld by wealthy countries. Meaningful solutions to climate breakdown come from the communities already resisting, not from the market. In Brazil, we must see the real recognition of Indigenous lands, land rights for Quilombola communities, agrarian and urban reform, and a role for the grassroots feminist movement in delivering a better future.

"Transforming the systems that have created the climate crisis, holding the real culprits to account, and placing life above profit - and at the heart of politics - is in the interests of all countries disproportionately exposed to climate threats."

Wealthy countries like the UK have a historic responsibility for fuelling global heating and must therefore provide their fair share of international climate finance to support the frontline communities already exposed to extreme weather, facing huge losses as some parts of the world grow increasingly uninhabitable, and to protect lives.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently gave the go ahead to Jackdaw, a new gas field in the North Sea and is currently contemplating more climate-wrecking developments including the Rosebank oil and gas field, and a third runway at Heathrow Airport. So far, his government has also failed to get a grip on the rapid sprawl of data centres across the country.

With reports that the UK government is also considering watering down key targets on electric vehicles, and following last month's Budget announcement slashing £1bn from the Warm Homes Plan - vital funding that would help to cut both emissions and bills - the Prime Minister's commitment to climate action is looking increasingly dubious.

Asad Rehman, chief executive at Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland said:

"The UK must drastically change course and contribute its fair share to the global climate effort. Not only have successive government drastically reduced the UK's commitment on climate finance and is failing to support the most climate-vulnerable countries, the Burnham government's climate credibility is crumbling.

"With the threat of the Rosebank oil and gas field, scores more data centres, and a third runway at Heathrow looming, not to mention rumours of weaker targets on electric vehicles and less cash for vital energy efficiency measures announced last month - our climate targets could be toast.

"To protect not just people at home, but those globally who are burdened by the most extreme climate threats, rich countries like the UK need to roll up their sleeves, take responsibility for their historic and continued role in fuelling the crisis, and do everything they can - starting with real financial support for nations on the frontlines and saying no to new oil and gas developments at home."

ENDS