Five years after halting contributions, Australia seeks to bolster ties with its Pacific neighbours and address global warming priorities
05 October 2023 - 08:20
by Agency Staff
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Sydney — Australia will rejoin a UN climate fund set up to help poorer countries cope with global warming, a government spokesperson said, aiming to win over Pacific neighbours concerned about climate change five years after it froze contributions.
Set up in 2010 to finance climate projects in poorer countries, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $11bn worth of projects in 129 countries, according to an April progress report. Some $3bn has been disbursed.
Australia will rejoin the fund, after a former government pulled out in 2018, and announce a “modest contribution” by the end of the year, a spokesperson for foreign minister Penny Wong said on Thursday.
“We have taken on board feedback from our partners in the Pacific on the best ways to direct our climate finance efforts and ensure all elements deliver for Pacific priorities,” the spokesperson said.
“We recognise that the GCF is the most prominent global climate finance fund, and we will work with partners to improve the GCF’s effectiveness.”
The shift reflects the clout of Pacific Island nations at a time when Australia and the US are trying to roll back diplomatic inroads by China into a region Canberra and Washington consider strategically crucial.
The fund has approved $1.4bn worth of projects in small island developing states.
Australia joined the fund in 2014 and contributed about 200-million Australian dollars over the following four years. It pulled out after then-prime minister Scott Morrison said in 2018 the country would no longer “tip money into that big climate fund”.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Australia re-enters UN climate fund
Five years after halting contributions, Australia seeks to bolster ties with its Pacific neighbours and address global warming priorities
Sydney — Australia will rejoin a UN climate fund set up to help poorer countries cope with global warming, a government spokesperson said, aiming to win over Pacific neighbours concerned about climate change five years after it froze contributions.
Set up in 2010 to finance climate projects in poorer countries, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $11bn worth of projects in 129 countries, according to an April progress report. Some $3bn has been disbursed.
Australia will rejoin the fund, after a former government pulled out in 2018, and announce a “modest contribution” by the end of the year, a spokesperson for foreign minister Penny Wong said on Thursday.
“We have taken on board feedback from our partners in the Pacific on the best ways to direct our climate finance efforts and ensure all elements deliver for Pacific priorities,” the spokesperson said.
“We recognise that the GCF is the most prominent global climate finance fund, and we will work with partners to improve the GCF’s effectiveness.”
The shift reflects the clout of Pacific Island nations at a time when Australia and the US are trying to roll back diplomatic inroads by China into a region Canberra and Washington consider strategically crucial.
The fund has approved $1.4bn worth of projects in small island developing states.
Australia joined the fund in 2014 and contributed about 200-million Australian dollars over the following four years. It pulled out after then-prime minister Scott Morrison said in 2018 the country would no longer “tip money into that big climate fund”.
Reuters
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