Wealthy countries close in on climate goals
Despite the pandemic upending investments, the OECD says donor governments are close to the $100bn pledged to cut emissions and GHG
Brussels — Wealthy countries have ramped up financing to help developing countries cut carbon emissions and cope with the effect of climate change, though it is unclear if they will meet their goal of $100bn this year.
In its annual update on climate finance for developing countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said donor governments contributed $78.9bn in 2018, the latest year for which data is available. This was an 11% increase from $71.2bn in 2017.
The funds include loans, grants and a small amount of equity, plus private investments that public bodies helped mobilise.
Developed countries agreed at the UN in 2009 to, together, contribute $100bn each year by 2020 in climate finance to poorer countries, many of which are grappling with rising seas, storms and droughts made worse by climate change.
The $100bn goal remains within reach, the OECD said, even though mobilised private finance, which totaled $14.6bn in 2018, hardly increased from 2017/2018.
“That means they’d need more public finance to meet that target,” said Simon Buckle, head of the OECD’s climate change division. “That’s not impossible, based on this trend.”
With the coronavirus pandemic upending investments this year, the OECD said data is not yet available on how the pandemic has affected climate finance.
“Developed countries haven’t yet delivered on their promise, both in terms of quantity and quality,” said Mohamed Adow, director of Nairobi-based think-tank Power Shift Africa.
Adow urged developed countries to increase support for “climate adaptation” — such as defences against wilder weather, or methods to adapt farming practices during droughts and floods.
Only a fifth of global contributions went on adaptation last year, while most support focused on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries.
The EU and its member countries are, taken together, the biggest provider of climate finance to developing countries. The EU said last week it also increased such contributions in 2019, to €21.9bn.
Reuters