Boris Johnson to use overseas aid budget to help scientists tackle climate crisis

Up to £1billion of overseas aid money will be made available to the scientific community to help the developing world tackle climate change, Boris Johnson is expected to announce.

The Prime Minister will commit the cash during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday.

A further £220 million from the aid budget will be redirected to save endangered species from extinction.

The Ayrton fund, named in honour of British physicist and suffragette Hertha Ayrton, will aim to encourage scientists to develop and test ways of reducing emissions and helping nations meet carbon targets.

Ahead of the announcement, Mr Johnson said: ‘I have always been deeply optimistic about the potential of technology to make the world a better place.

‘If we get this right, future generations will look back on climate change as a problem that we solved by determined global action and the prowess of technology.

‘The new fund I’m launching today rightly honours Hertha Ayrton – one of Britain’s most extraordinary minds who drove relentlessly to improve our scientific understanding and left a legacy of innovation and creativity for which the world owes an immeasurable debt.’

Money will go towards designing low-emission vehicles and to provide electricity for the one billion people living off the grid, all in an effort to cut emissions.

The new international biodiversity fund will invest in cutting illegally traded products, reduce the demand for hunting, train anti-poaching rangers and help communities break from being financially dependent on poaching.

Mr Johnson continued: ‘The global population of animals is plummeting faster than at any time in human history. There are now more peers in the House of Lords than there are Sumatran tigers left in the world.

‘It is a privilege to share our planet with such majestic beasts as the African elephant, the black rhino and the beautiful pangolin.

‘We cannot just sit back and watch as priceless endangered species are wiped off the face of the earth by our own carelessness and criminality.’

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International Development Secretary Alok Sharma is also expected to announce that a further £175 million of aid money will be directed towards climate initiatives in the developing world.

Of that, £85 million will be spent protecting people from natural disasters such as typhoons and hurricanes with earlier warnings, as well as handling their aftermath.

The rest will be used to help cut disaster risk insurance costs.