£1 billion of UK aid to fight climate change in Africa

[confounded]

The UK is set to pour up to £1 billion of taxpayers money into helping African countries fight climate change.

[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8918045/1-billion-of-UK-aid-to-fight-climate-change-in-Africa.html#disqus_thread

[/URL]

"Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, is due to announce details of a foreign aid package ahead of government talks at a United Nation's summit on climate change in Durban, South Africa, which start this week. Among the projects to be funded will be schemes to help African farmers insure their crops against flooding and drought while other projects include installing solar power in rural villages and building slurry pits that can produce gas to power generators."

 

[JamesBrownLive]

£1 Billion...... and as always with Africa, a good chunk ending up in the hands of corrupt politicians, local officials etc.

Beggars belief !

 

[dansk]

Charity starts at home.

 

[malcolmsanford]

I'm going to put an optimistic slant on this, that it is all a cunning plan by our government, and by laying out this Billion we are going to reap 5 billion back in all these redundant PV sparks going over there, all the knock on trade etc etc, but I fell like Balderick there may be some holes in this cunning plan as well.

 

[SolarCity]

To be honest, I don't have an issue with overseas aid - especially to Africa.

It is true that a lot of the aid ends up in the wrong hands but this isn't a good reason to not do the right thing. It is a good reason to make sure that we the right thing better.

One of the main reasons I took such an interest in solar power is as a tool to battle climate change. If the billion pounds goes a long way to helping and to helping the people there then I'm all for it.

 

[Thomas123]

so what about the people who are in need in this country??? not being nasty but i watched children in need the other day, and there are kids dying of leukemia, and the hospice that are supporting them and their families while they spend the last few months of their lifes have to beg for funding which they cannot get... there is loads like this, charities in this country cannot get the funding.. its makes me livid

then the government are sending 1 billion abroad?? get you priorites right. start sorting out the problems that are in this country first, then worry about others..

 

[SolarCity]

I don't see a child in Britain as more of a priority than a child in Africa. My responsibility as a human being doesn't just end at our borders.

 

[Thomas123]

I don't see a child in Britain as more of a priority than a child in Africa. My responsibility as a human being doesn't just end at our borders.

hence why i said "then worry about others"

it seems that the government are more worried about other countries than our own.. our problems need sorting before anyone elses..

 

[SolarCity]

By saying "then worry about others", you are giving priority to British children. That's fair enough and a popular viewpoint. I'm just saying that I don't see it that way.

 

[sbrown2]

This country is a world leader in leadership. Or so I thought. I would imagine there is a money to be made in this. But also morally it looks good.

As for the pointless view relating to kids with leukemia. This country will never let children, who are presented to it, not get the care they require.

 

[Scooby]

I can see £1b of anti-climate-change aid having a far greater effect in Africa than in our own country, to be honest. From what I can see, this money will be used to directly support and hopefully permanently change the conditions that many of the poorest in the world are living in - if you prevent flooding, the people in that area will not require as much food-aid in the future (which is always a temporary measure) and will be better capable in supporting themselves. Also, I cannot think of many countries more suited to solar power!

These poor (in every sense) people should be able to enjoy an immediate, permanent and substantial benefit from this money. In our country, the investment in solar largely benefits those lucky enough to have the spare cash to have a PV system installed - and I speak, with some guilt, as one of them; I can't see all these domestic installations having any detectable beneficial effect on our national energy consumption. Ok, I know it has also helped to build a new, badly-needed, industry, but I'm not sure if it was value-for-money (I could be wrong - I just don't know.) Whereas, I can see the same money having a concrete benefit in African countries.

I also agree, tho', that much of that money will likely be lost to corrupt organisations and rebels. That's why - going off on a tangent here... - I'd also support the UN in taking direct action against all the f***in' corrupt rulers in this god-forsaken planet.

 

[Specialist]

Charity starts at home.

No mate: With this country it starts anywhere but at home, pity they don't spend it on our own instead.

 

[tonto33]

:63:save a billion :63:95% of them live in desert tell em to move 5 mile down road then they be able to grow there own crops saving us even more billions

 

[malcolmsanford]

Noble cause naively executed though Scooby

My wife and I donate to a couple of charities UKAge and Action for Children both charities that I feel that are trying to help vulnerable people in the UK.

I'm afraid at my time in life I have reached the point where I've seen too much in the world to feel that this money is going to benefit many subsistence farmers in Africa.

In an African country that I worked in 1987 I saw rice being sold in the markets in bags that had Gift Aid from the United States stamped on it, and food aid rotting on a dock because apparently the official that dealt with this was not given his sweetener and so the go ahead for the import licence was not issued, and in the end it was bull dozed into the sea.

I'm not saying we have it down to perfection in this country regarding aid or charity, but I like to honestly feel it is less corrupted than in many areas of the world.

 

[SolarCity]

I also agree, tho', that much of that money will likely be lost to corrupt organisations and rebels. That's why - going off on a tangent here... - I'd also support the UN in taking direct action against all the f***in' corrupt rulers in this god-forsaken planet.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[ezzzekiel]

Of the billions poured into africa for as long as i can remember ( a good 30 odd years) what difference has it made.

This country is in a mess in every possible thing you can think of due to
Corrupt goverment and the do good brigade.

Im of the personal opinion now of stuff the lot and look after my own

 

[SolarCity]

Of the billions poured into africa for as long as i can remember ( a good 30 odd years) what difference has it made.

An absolutely colosal amount. It has saved millions and millions of lives and it HAS helped bring Africa on.

Obviously the place still has immense problems and a lot of the aid does get spent on temporary solutions but the aid that does get into the right hands does do an immense amount of good.

Im of the personal opinion now of stuff the lot and look after my own

And exactly who are your 'own'? Are African children not worth it?

Africa is one of the biggest problems that has ever faced mankind and the biggest tragedy in all this is that it really doesn't cost that much to feed, provide clean water and build infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. It is about time that the rest of the world sorted out the corrupt governments and local officials.

 

[Solluva]

it seems that the government are more worried about other countries than our own.. our problems need sorting before anyone elses..

Do you rally think that all our problems will ever be sorted?
If we wait for that unlikely day do you think that the increasing poor, landless and hungry - partly because of climate change - will sit and wait?
They will be at our doors. Cynically foreign aid is partly an insurance against this.

 

[solarsavings]

naivety reigns

 

[ezzzekiel]

Un taking action against corrupt rulers would be good then were just left with the corrupt un.

People just dont get it mankind as an entity is a parasite that feeds on the misfortune of others always has and always will a eutopic society is a pure myth

 

[SolarCity]

Un taking action against corrupt rulers would be good then were just left with the corrupt un.

People just dont get it mankind as an entity is a parasite that feeds on the misfortune of others always has and always will a eutopic society is a pure myth

Thankfully, such a narcissistic outlook is not the norm in society although I am frequently surprised by it when it rears it's ugly head.

 

[telectrix]

just think how many euro bureaucrats could be assassinated with £1billion. i nominate phoney blair to be first.

 

[MorganPVI]

In most parts of the world having a tin roof on your shack makes you rich, from a local viewpoint.

The west spends 59billion on pet food every year, 32billion would provide clean drinking water for the whole of Africa.

 

[confounded]

In most parts of the world having a tin roof on your shack makes you rich, from a local viewpoint.

The west spends 59billion on pet food every year, 32billion would provide clean drinking water for the whole of Africa.

And that is the whole point of this thread, not so much about rights and wrong but more about putting things into context. Some people seem have very strong views on the subsidies renewable receive, putting these figure into context always helps.

 

[telectrix]

more likely provide tequila and mistresses for tin-pot dictators and their cronies.

 

[moggy1968]

How is it we push fair trade all the time yet expect out own farmers to sell meat and milk at a loss?

I have travelled extensively in west Africa and as above have seen those aid donations (clothing in this case) being sold on the markets and have taken school books and other stuff there myself.

I became totally disolussioned with it. The mentality was one of total dependance, a real 'cadeaux pour moi mentality' and now never give to African charities because very little of it ends up where it should be and none of it ever makes any long term difference. Until there is a sea change in attitude from the me first and our problems are everyones elses fault mentality and until they stop spending so much on fighting each other you might as well burn the money for all the good it will do.

Africa has some of the greatest natural resources and there is no reason why it should be so poor or corrupt. If you want an example look at Zimabwe/Rhodesia. It's may not be the fault of the people who are starving, but throwing money at the problem doesn't make it go away.

And don't rely on the UN for anything. They are a corrupt, useless impotent organisation with far too many memebers trying to protect their own vested interested. want an example, how about the Srebrenica massacre, 'you've all been very naughty and if you don't play nicely we'll pass another resolution!' 'ooh thats scary!'

 

[alarm man]

the uk cant afford to give 1 billion away on anything,the country is skint,if they have 1 billion lying around pump it back into the councils who are cutting services and jobs all over..

 

[SolarCity]

Frankly, I'd rather see the money spent on something of great importance in Africa than for paying bin men £50k a year to push wheelie bins around.

 

[alarm man]

Frankly, I'd rather see the money spent on something of great importance in Africa than for paying bin men £50k a year to push wheelie bins around.

our bin men push them to the back of a bin wagon and take all the rubbish away,id rather see a billion of our money spent on us,when the country is back up and running then we can afford to help other countries out ,you look after your own first

 

[Marvo]

I'm obviously biased, I'm not quite an African because I was born on Gibraltar but I did my military service in Africa, I worked for the UN for four years in five African countries and I've lived in Africa for 20 years.

There's a few things to bear in mind when it comes to Western donations to Africa.

With any donation it's usually engineered to provide employment or exports in the country of origin. It's very rarely a pure cash donation.

It's usually a back-scratching exercise, at the very least it's to stop an imminent event or disaster that might affect a particular African countries ability to service its debt. Often it's linked to trade agreements etc to allow preferential treatment of business interests for the Western country that like to hedge in an emerging market.

To this day Western countries have been practicing politics in and with the mineral rich countries of Africa. Charity is business and business is politics.

As they say in in Zaire; 'you don't get ought for nought'.

 

[solarsavings]

In most parts of the world having a tin roof on your shack makes you rich, from a local viewpoint.

The west spends 59billion on pet food every year, 32billion would provide clean drinking water for the whole of Africa.

If we gave them the 32 billion tomorrow would it be spent on providing clean water?

The trouble with Africa and Africans in general is that they see themselves as victims of an unjust world and or the white man, and expect to be compensated accordingly. While we compensate them they are are unwilling to help themselves and that leaves them dependent on on aid. We have a similar problem here where we now have a second generation of 'victims' that wont work in our inner cities where jobs exist but we have record levels of unemployment.

You don't motivate people by giving. Some need to learn taht.

 

[solarsavings]

paying bin men £50k a year to push wheelie bins around.

Sorry Biggs but you're sounding like GB there, pure fantasy.

 

[1shortcircuit]

My first reaction was wtf? but after thinking about it this is probably quite a strategic move.

Now I don't know the ins and outs but from what I can gather countries have to try to reduce their carbon footprint by xy or z. Perhaps the UK are going to miss their target but can play this as their get out of jail free card? "we missed our target but hey, take no notice of that look at what we did in Africa"

Either way, we could be the richest country in existance but what will it count for if the world does cave in to the global warming effect? It does make perfect sense to spend money on solar in a country that has so many hours of sunlight.

I'd prefer to see money spent in alternative countries on things like this that will benefit the entire world than just hear of cash for food being handed out.

Out of interest, what are the difference in figures? What could a billion of solar produce in terms of energy in Africa v's the same amount here in the UK?

 

[solarsavings]

The west's increase in aid is due to the influence China is beginning to have on that african continent. The west is being upsurpt and are scared ****less.

 

[alarm man]

If we gave them the 32 billion tomorrow would it be spent on providing clean water?

The trouble with Africa and Africans in general is that they see themselves as victims of an unjust world and or the white man, and expect to be compensated accordingly. While we compensate them they are are unwilling to help themselves and that leaves them dependent on on aid. We have a similar problem here where we now have a second generation of 'victims' that wont work in our inner cities where jobs exist but we have record levels of unemployment.

You don't motivate people by giving. Some need to learn taht.

ss is right in a way,the old saying is never more true

give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

people need to help themselves,how many billions upon billions has been given to africa and they still cant get their house in order

 

[Marvo]

ss is right in a way,the old saying is never more true

give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

people need to help themselves,how many billions upon billions has been given to africa and they still cant get their house in order

The other old saying is also true;
give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,teach a man to fish and you ruin a good business opportunity.

 

[alarm man]

The other old saying is also true;
give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,teach a man to fish and you ruin a good business opportunity.

too true marvo..

 

[trev]

It would make perfect sense to spend aid money on building massive PV installations in these countries and train their people to maintain them. This would give these people something to export which everyone needs and thus provide them with the ability to help themselves. The only downside I could see is that we in the west could then be held to ransom by our own need to consume what they produce

 

[Earthstore]

Africa has more natural resources that most of the world needs, most are untapped, but who will they supply in the future?
When I had a conversation with someone, lets just say, involved in this giving away money thing, I was informed it is to secure future trade links, Me being Me said "oh a bribe then", that went down well not....
Strange how different we all see things.

Earthstore

 

[moggy1968]

Stick a solar array on an Africans roof and his neighbour will nick it.
Stick in a solar farm and the local dictator will use it to power his palace
it's money down the drain.
I think the above was right about the influence of china in Africa, they are pouring in millions and sending in huge teams, why, because they need the raw materials.
It's the capitalists vs iron curtain all over again