Labor promises legislation to ensure international aid tackles climate crisis

A Labor government would pass legislation requiring that aid spending UK foreigners are prioritizing action to tackle the climate crisis, The Independentcan reveal.

In a speech to Labor's annual conference in Liverpool later today shadow international aid secretary Preet Gill will confirm the party's commitment to reinstate the 0.7% of national income requirement for aid, after it was reduced to 0 .5% by Boris Johnson.

And she will say a Labor government will emphasize using UK aid to developing countries to tackle 'the greatest threat of this century for humanity".

The l Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has put the climate at the center of this year's meeting, which is taking place under the slogan 'A fairer and greener future'.

The focus on the environment reflects leaders' concern that young supporters may drift away from the Green Party, as well as the belief that record-breaking heat waves this summer have pushed climate onto the agenda of millions of mainstream voters.

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In excerpts from her speech seen by The Independent, Ms Gill promises to restore the independence of overseas development aid to Whitehall, after Mr Johnson merged the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office.

She will say: 'Boris Johnson's ideological merger has failed.

'It is now up to Labor to fix these damage and to recover the confidence of British partners. Keir was absolutely right when he called the [Department for International Development] shutdown "totally wrong" and "insane", and his commitment to international development shows who he is.

"So just as 25 years ago DFID was created to meet the global challenges we faced, a Labor government will put in place a new model with the independence to meet the challenges of the 21st century: a model that recognizes the link between development and climate. Its mission will be to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

"We will restore Britain's commitment to spend 0.7% of its income on help.

"And we will offer a separate development program that brings value for money and ends the government's wasteful, transactional approach.

"The climate emergency is this century's greatest threat to humanity. That's why I'm also announcing today that Labor will legislate to ensure that, as a priority, Britain's aid budget helps tackle climate change."