Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

Business Maverick

This article is more than 4 years old

Business Maverick

Rich Nations to Miss Climate Fund Goal Even by 2025, Oxfam Says

Developed countries’ pledges to provide $100 billion of annual financing, made over a decade ago and seen as key to unlocking upcoming climate talks, are unlikely to be met even five years after the target, according to a new report. 
Rich Nations to Miss Climate Fund Goal Even by 2025, Oxfam Says Natural disasters, burning fossil-fuel plants and extreme weather not only affect our planet but are taking a severe toll on our mental health.
Bloomberg
By Bloomberg
20 Sep 2021
Facebook
2

That not only threatens the success at the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow starting in weeks, but also the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius as part of the Paris Agreement, Oxfam International said in a study“Wealthy nations must live up to their promise made 12 years ago and put their money where their mouths are,” said Nafkote Dabi, global climate policy lead for Oxfam. “It is clearly a question of political will.”

Data from the OECD last week showed that the pace of boosting the funding slowed further in 2019, growing just 2% to $79.6 billion from 2018. Data wasn’t available for 2020, by when the $100 billion annual rate was to be achieved, but the economic damage wreaked by the pandemic means that target was likely missed.

Falling Short

Developing nations say the funding is key for them to pledge deeper emissions cuts. While U.S. climate envoy John Kerry has been criss-crossing the globe in recent weeks, including China and India, seeking to garner enough support to make COP26 that starts Oct. 31 a success, the financing crunch could turn out to be a hurdle.

Oxfam also raised concerns about how the financing will be disbursed to developing nations. Over two-thirds will be in the form of loans, which would put the countries into further debt.

The U.S. is widely seen as having the biggest funding shortfall, in part because former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the world’s richest polluter out of the Paris deal. Oxfam said France, Australia and Japan have failed to increase their financing for poorer nations.

Comments

stalker Sep 20, 2021, 08:26 AM

As George Monbiot writes in "The Guardian", "If Earth's systems tip, there will be little difference between taking inadequate action and taking no action at all ". Several systems have already tipped- the melting of the Arctic ice and the tundra are the most obvious examples. It's almost inevitable that the response will be inadequate. Which politician is going to tell his voters that energy will no longer be abundantly available at the flick of a switch and that their standard of living will have to drop ?

Brent Record Sep 20, 2021, 06:58 PM

Who on earth is Miss Climate Fund? Oom Louw Bettrie