Developed countries fall billions short on their ‘fair share’ of $100bn climate finance goal: Report
Countries not paying their "fair share"
A recent analysis by Carbon Brief, a UK-based website, shows that developed countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada have made smaller financial contributions than internationally agreed to in terms of their share of historical emissions.
The report compares national shares of historical emissions with the contributions made to the $100 billion climate finance target that developed countries pledge by the year 2020. However, not only has this target not been met but countries like the US which should have contributed $40 billion based on past emissions and have only provided $7.6 billion or 19% of their “fair share” by 2020, the report said citing the latest data available.
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Furthermore, while countries like Canada and Australia have provided nearly 40% of their “fair share”, they collectively still fall at least $5 billion short of their target and the UK which has given 76% still falls at least $1.4 billion short in fulfilling its commitment toward the climate finance goal.
These countries, based on their historical contributions, are also among the 24 “Annex II” countries which are on the list of “developed” or “industrialised” nations, which account for 40% of historical emissions and are legally bound by the United Nations climate convention to provide climate finance. The $100 billion target was agreed to by the developed countries during the COP15 climate summit in 2009.
On the other hand, countries like Switzerland have proportionally provided more than four times that they have contributed to the emissions. While France and Norway’s contribution was more than three times and Japan is one of the largest providers with $13 billion which is more than double its historical emissions.
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Notably, the funding from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK is largely in the form of grants which is preferred over Japan and France's method of contribution which is loans, by the developing countries that often carry heavy amounts of debt. A report by the Guardian indicates that the UK government was recently criticised for not paying the $300 promised in climate funds before the beginning of COP27.
Meanwhile, the report also shows that the US is the largest shortfall as it has only contributed 19% of its $40 billion fair share. However, recently a pledge proposed by the incumbent US president Joe Biden promises to contribute $11.4 billion a year by 2024, while Congress has also approved a $1 billion in climate finance earlier this year.
These findings were published amid the ongoing COP27 climate summit in Egypt, which began this Sunday, with climate finance for developing countriesbeing one of the key issues. Furthermore, several recent reports by different groups and organisations have raised an alarm regarding climate change and its effects in recent years as well as in the future.
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In the context of funding, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Thursday highlighted the need for increased “adaptation investment” which could save millions of people from “climate carnage”. The World Health Organisation in a statement, on Sunday, said that investment in clean energy will yield health gains, for example, applying higher standards for vehicle emissions could save at least 2.4 million lives per year.
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