Rich nations yesterday published a Climate Finance Delivery Plan claiming that it will take until 2023 to meet their commitment to mobilise US$100 billion each year to support poorer nations to confront the climate crisis. In response, Jan Kowalzig, Senior Climate Policy Adviser at Oxfam said:
“This plan claims that rich nations will meet their target three years late, but conveniently fails to mention the money that poorer countries are owed for every year they fell short. This shortfall, which started to accumulate in 2020, will likely amount to several tens of billions of dollars. These are achievable amounts of money — governments have spent trillions on COVID-19 fiscal recovery packages, which show their ability to act in an emergency. This is an emergency.
“This roadmap also provides no robust commitment to increase the share of finance for adaptation, or to provide more support in the form of grants rather than loans. It is unacceptable that poorer countries that have done little to cause the climate crisis are being forced to take out loans to protect themselves from surging climate disasters like droughts and storms.
“It is difficult to verify the timeline presented in this plan because it does not reveal the underlying data and assumptions. Instead, it relies on the self-reporting of donor countries which allows them to grossly over-estimate the value of the support they provide. Oxfam has previously estimated that the finance targeted specifically at actions to combat climate change may be as little as a quarter of what is reported.
“With the COP26 climate talks just a week away, time is running out for rich nations to build trust and deliver on their unmet target. This raises the stakes in Glasgow where wealthy governments must agree to more stringent reporting standards, on ensuring climate finance is directed to the right places and on a plan beyond 2025.”
Notes to editors
In 2009, rich countries agreed to increase climate finance to poorer countries to reach US$100 billion a year by 2020. At the Paris climate summit in 2015 (COP21), this goal was extended to last through to 2025, so that rich countries would provide US$600 billion in total over the period 2020-2025. Under the Paris Agreement, they agreed to negotiate a yet-higher amount that would kick in from 2025.
During a two-day ministerial in July, convened by COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma to discuss critical negotiating issues and climate actions ahead of COP26, Canada and Germany agreed to take forward a delivery plan for mobilising US$100 billion a year in climate finance.
Just one week ago, the New Zealand government announced an increase to $1.5 billion in climate finance over four years.
Oxfam Aotearoa along with Oxfam Australia and Oxfam in the Pacific
