UN Beats $30 Billion Goal to Fund Climate Aid in Poorer Nations
Japan and Norway topped a list of industrialized nations that beat a $30 billion funding goal for climate-protection projects in poorer countries, Climate Analytics said as it urged better coordination in future rounds.
Developed nations paid out $35.9 billion of public funds and $3 billion of private finance in the three years through 2012, the Berlin-based researcher said in a report. Japan’s $17.6 billion of aid and Norway’s $2.1 billion far exceeded their “fair share” of the United Nations target, it said.
Progress reports on the UN aid program, called Fast Start, previously sparked criticism from recipient nations that the allocation of funds wasn’t transparent. November estimates of the financing ranged from $23.6 billion to almost $34 billion. Countries at climate talks in Bonn are now pushing for clarity on how industrialized nations will deliver the annual $100 billion they’ve promised by 2020.
“We need a body to intervene and give us a level of confidence that finance and support is flowing,” Malian envoy Seyni Nafo told delegates yesterday in the German city. Climate finance is a linchpin of the talks, which are aimed at devising a new international treaty to fight global warming by 2015.
The $9.8 billion of funds delivered by the 27-nation European Union almost met its fair share, while the U.S. undershot on $7.5 billion, Climate Analytics said. Seventy-one percent of the total finance went to emission-reduction ventures rather than adaptation projects such as water conservation or flood defense, today’s report shows.
New Approach
The researcher studied national submissions to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to compile the study. It said that a more organized approach will be needed to measure the $100 billion target, and that more aid will have to flow to projects that help nations adapt to climate change.
“While the reports state that governments delivered what they promised, the broad nature of their commitments and lack of specific objectives are not the type and scale developing countries need to make the transformational change to low-emission and climate-resilient development,” said Laetitia de Marez, finance policy analyst at Climate Analytics.