A SCOTTISH Conservative MSP has described the Scottish Government trebling its Climate Justice Fund as "hugely insulting" to councils and campaign groups looking for funding.

Nicola Sturgeon announced on Thursday that the fund will increase from £3 million a year when it was first set up in 2012 to £9m annually over the current parliamentary term. 

The fund helps less wealthy countries deal with the impacts of climate change.

The First Minister said that as Scotland is a relatively small country without substantial powers of borrowing, its contribution to the $100 billion global fund will be relatively small.

READ MORE: Scotland will 'lead by example' as Climate Justice fund set to treble, FM announces

The Scottish contribution to the fund will account for 0.012% of the $100bn that rich nations pledged to poorer nations annually at the COP summit in Copenhagen in 2009.

The Scottish Tory chief whip Stephen Kerr has criticised the announcement.

He tweeted: "It is hugely insulting to local councils and campaign groups which have worked hard and often failed to secure ScotsGov funding for vital lifesaving projects, that the SNP can so easily find millions to generate some good PR."

The Scottish Conservatives did not respond to a request to expand on Kerr's criticisms.

A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “These pathetic comments totally undermine any claims by the Scottish Tories that they are serious about tackling climate change. Boosting our support for poorer countries which are suffering most from the effects of climate change, but have done least to cause it, is a moral and environmental obligation, and one we are determined that Scotland plays our full part in fulfilling.”

In her announcement that the annual fund will increase, Sturgeon called for larger countries with more resources to recognise their moral responsibility and adopt a “can-do” attitude for the final days of COP26 to secure a successful outcome.

A report for the UN last year concluded that “the only realistic scenarios” show the $100bn promise is set to be broken.

She said: “It is clear that fair climate finance is the key to making real progress at COP26.

“Every vulnerable or developing country I have spoken with has big ambitions for meeting the climate crisis but they do not have the funding for adaptation, for mitigation, or for tackling the loss and damage that is needed to deliver.

“Twelve years on from the commitment by developed nations to provide funding of 100 billion dollars a year, that is simply not good enough.

“It is time for leaders of developed countries, large and small, to do what is needed to bridge the remaining gap, and put on the table now the money that is needed to make good on past commitments and unlock progress in other areas.”

READ MORE: COP26 LIVE: Talks enter final days in push to reach a deal at climate summit

The Scottish Government’s £3m increase will take its contribution to the Climate Justice Fund to £24m over the course of the parliamentary term and comes just two months after it announced it would be doubled to £6m.

The head of Oxfam Scotland, Jamie Livingstone, welcomed the funding increase.

“This announcement from the First Minister has hugely raised the stakes as the COP26 talks enter their final few hours, sending a powerful message to the leaders of other rich nations that it’s simply unconscionable to leave poor countries picking up the tab for a climate crisis they did least to cause,” he said.

“Other governments must now step up and follow Scotland’s lead by making substantial new financial commitments to developing countries, where people are already losing their lives, homes and livelihoods to climate change.”

Nushrat Chowdhury, a climate justice adviser with Christian Aid, described the support as a "breakthrough which others urgently need to follow".