Tide goes out on climate spending

Government spending on climate programs will drop over the next four years, new figures show.

The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook released on Tuesday reported climate spending would total $1.05 billion in 2015/16, dropping to $900 million in 2016/17 and $700 million in 2017/18.

The two key areas of spending are the emissions reduction fund and the Paris summit commitment of $1 billion over five years to help Pacific nations cut emissions and deal with the impact of climate change.