Scotland has earned international recognition for its climate justice leadership, pioneering dedicated funding for communities most affected by climate breakdown and becoming the first country in the Global North to commit funding to address climate-related loss and damage.
The announcement comes as countries gather at COP31, the UN's annual climate summit, where world leaders are under pressure to show how they will respond to the growing human cost of climate breakdown. Against a backdrop of rising temperatures and increasingly extreme weather, support for climate-vulnerable communities is expected to be a major focus of negotiations.
But Oxfam Scotland said funding alone cannot compensate for policy decisions which risk deepening the climate crisis. Campaigners said Scotland's climate leadership will be judged not only by the support it provides overseas, but by whether its domestic actions match its international rhetoric, including on fossil fuels, emissions reductions and a fair transition for workers and communities.
Katherine May, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: "This new funding is welcome and will make a real difference to communities already facing the devastating impacts of climate breakdown in our warming world.
"The Scottish Government earned its climate justice reputation in Glasgow at COP26. But five years later it, cannot claim to support climate justice abroad while undermining it at home. Recent backsliding on fossil fuels and environmental protections risks reducing Scotland's climate ambitions to a branding exercise. True climate leadership is not a photo opportunity nor slogan.
“If Ministers want to convince people Scotland's climate ambitions are still genuine, the Scottish Budget is where they need to prove it. That means increasing Climate Justice Fund investment from year one of this Parliament, implementing a sky-high private jet tax and introducing a presumption against new oil and gas exploration.
"The challenge now isn't just helping people live with climate breakdown. It's tackling the pollution and profiteering that fuel it."
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For more information and interviews, please contact: Rebecca Lozza, Media and Communications Adviser, Oxfam Scotland: rlozza1@oxfam.org.uk / 07917738450
