Scotland is providing £375,000 for three programmes intended to strengthen disability inclusion, human rights and access to climate finance in the international response to climate change.
The package includes a new £100,000 award to Christian Blind Mission to help organisations representing disabled people take part in international climate talks. A further £165,000 will continue support for the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights, while £110,000 will extend funding for a platform that connects regional climate projects with potential finance.
The announcement was made on 11 November as the COP31 climate conference continued in Antalya, Türkiye. It combines a new participation award with renewed support for two existing areas of work; the whole package should not be described as the launch of three new programmes.
Support for participation
Christian Blind Mission says the funding has enabled it to support nine additional representatives of organisations of disabled people from countries in Africa and Asia to take part in COP31. The representatives bring experience from their own communities to discussions about climate policy and funding.
The support covers more than the cost of reaching the conference. Josephine Mwatibo and Gordon Rattray, who work with the Disability Climate Caucus, say it includes preparation and registration as well as accessibility requirements such as sign-language interpretation, personal assistance and accessible accommodation. Those measures address different stages of participation, from being able to travel to being able to contribute once an event begins.
The caucus representatives say disabled people from the Global South have too often been absent from rooms where decisions affecting their communities are made. The grant is intended to help organisations represented at the talks bring their experience to those discussions. It does not by itself determine the outcome of negotiations or guarantee that every proposal put forward by delegates will be adopted.
Climate Action Secretary Gillian Martin said the government wanted climate finance to reach people most affected through locally led action involving women, disabled people and Indigenous peoples. She also called for changes to the global debt system, arguing that climate-vulnerable countries should not be forced to choose between debt repayments and recovery from climate impacts. That remains a policy appeal, not an agreed change to debt rules.
Human rights and resilience
The £165,000 allocation continues support for the UN mandate held by Elisa Morgera. The role was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to address the implications of climate change for human rights and was extended in 2024.
Morgera said the renewed Scottish funding would support international engagement, including her participation in COP31. She said a UN liquidity crisis had prevented her mandate from receiving the UN budget allocated under the relevant Human Rights Council resolution. Her work involves listening to concerns and advising governments, human rights defenders and experts on protecting rights in the context of climate change.
The remaining £110,000 will extend Scotland’s backing for the Regions4 Just Resilience Action Platform. Regions4 is a network of regional governments of which Scotland holds the presidency. The platform seeks to connect regional climate and nature projects with donors and technical partners, while helping develop projects that may be ready for investment.
The platform was launched at the previous climate conference in 2025, so the new allocation extends existing work rather than creating it. Examples identified when it launched included efforts to restore mangroves for coastal resilience in Saint-Louis, Senegal, and wetland restoration for water security in Azuay, Ecuador. Those examples were presented as initiatives seeking further investment and partnership; the latest announcement does not say that either has received the new £110,000.
Continuing earlier support
Scotland’s earlier climate-justice funding included £150,000 for the rapporteur’s work and £100,000 for a Regions4 pilot announced in November 2025. The new figures are separate allocations for continued support, not a restatement of those earlier sums.
The Scottish Government says it delivered £36 million for climate justice in the last parliamentary term, including £10 million for loss and damage. Those wider figures describe past support, whereas the latest £375,000 package sets out funding for the three specified programmes. The announcement does not set out a payment schedule or measure the eventual outcomes of the new allocations.
