Britain will not invest in a Brazilian-led fund for rainforests seen as key to the UN Cop30 climate summit to be attended by Sir Keir Starmer and other world leaders this week.
The UK had been considering support for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility but will not commit public money as Rachel Reeves grapples with balancing the books ahead of the Budget this month.
Cop30 host nation Brazil wants to launch the fund, which would provide financial backing to countries that commit to preserving tropical biomes, at this year’s summit in Belem.
Downing Street said the Government would continue to support the initiative and explore ways to “bring the full weight of the UK private finance sector” behind the scheme through the City.
“We have a domestic Budget at the end of this month, and domestic growth and raising living standards is the full focus of this Government,” Sir Keir’s official spokesman said.
Asked on Wednesday whether Britain was simply too poor to take part, the No 10 official replied: “That’s not what I said.
“I said we have a Budget at the end of this month and growth domestically and raising living standards are our full focus.”
The UK has “led the way” with its 2035 target under the Paris Agreement to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% on 1990 levels, he said.
Sir Keir will seek to pitch the UK as a global leader on climate action as he arrives in Belem, a city gateway to the Amazon river, for the Cop30 summit on Thursday.
Britain played a key role in establishing the TFFF alongside Brazil and has been named as a potential investor nation along with Germany, the United Arab Emirates, France and Norway.
But the Treasury reportedly questioned the cost of backing the scheme amid financial pressures ahead of a difficult autumn statement on November 26 in which the Chancellor is widely expected to raise taxes.
Speaking ahead of the two-day trip, during which Sir Keir and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will also attend the Prince of Wales’s Earthshot Prize ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, the Prime Minister said he had not “changed his mind” on climate action.
Speaking to sixth-formers on a visit to Downing Street on Monday, he said: “I’ve thought climate change has been our biggest challenge as a species for a very long number of years now.
“I haven’t changed my mind because some other people have changed their minds.
“It’s very important we go and we show that leadership. So that’s what we’ll be going for.”
Asked about how large countries have failed to stick by previous international agreements and what makes him confident Cop30 will be a success, Sir Keir said: “It’s a challenge. There’s no doubt about it.
“You’re trying to get a whole bunch of countries to act in a similar way. That’s not easy. They’ve all got their own political pressures in their own country.
“But I genuinely believe that only by coming together and committing and coming back and looking at the commitments we made in the past, and making the argument is really important.
“And I think one of the main reasons for going is to continue to make that case.”
Nick Rau, forests campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said the decision not to fund TFFF painted “a worrying picture of the UK’s commitment to ending global deforestation”.
He called on the Government to show “maximum ambition” to help end deforestation, including by introducing a new law to make UK companies “legally accountable for the harm they cause at home and overseas”.
“There are legitimate concerns about the effectiveness of financial markets to protect forests and fully involve frontline communities in governance,” he said.
“However, it’s shocking the UK has decided not to back the fund – especially as it helped to create it in the first place.”
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