The world’s top development banks have pledged to boost their funding to lessen climate change’s impact, aiming for the goal of US$100 billion a year that rich countries have pledged to transfer to developing countries by 2020.
The pledges were made when finance ministers met in Lima, Peru, less than two months ahead of the United Nations sponsored climate conference in Paris considered pivotal if the brakes are to be put on global warming.
“This is a positive outcome and I think we can say with some certainty that we will reach the US$100 billion commitment” made at 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters.
“It is the beginning of what you need, because if the international community doesn’t roll up it sleeves and get to work this thing is just too big for us,” said Rachel Kyte, the World Bank vice president for climate change.
For the World Bank alone, that will mean boosting climate financing by a third, potentially making US$29 billion a year in additional funding available by 2020.
Pledging to essentially double their lending were the smaller Asian, European, African and European multilateral development banks, French finance officials said.
The African Development Bank said it would triple its climate financing to nearly US$5 billion a year by 2020.
Countries including Germany, France, Netherlands, United States, Sweden and Britain have recently announced increase climate finance.
A report issued by the 29-country Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated US$62 billion was spent last year, up from US$52 billion the previous year.
About 40 per cent of the total comes from multilateral development banks.
The charity Oxfam estimate that only about 16 per cent of the total, or US$2 billion, is directly invested in helping poor countries hit hardest by global warming cope with extreme weather it is already causing.
“The poorest countries are still being short-changed,” said Oxfam climate policy expert Isabel Kreisler.
Most of the money is going to green energy investments for reducing the burning of fossil fuels that cause global warming.
“Climate finance is going to be a dealmaker or deal-breaker in Paris, so unless there is a credible roadmap on the table on how these imbalances are going to be addressed, we do see developing countries putting a Paris agreement potentially at risk,” Ms Kreisler said.
“The US$100 billion is a very important political commitment that developed countries made in Copenhagen but it’s really the tip of the iceberg,” said Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute.
“The real question is about the shifting of the trillions.”
The International Energy Agency has estimated an additional US$1.1 trillion will be needed annually through mid-century to keep the global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius, the goal of the Paris climate negotiations.
“The US$100 billion is a political number,” Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the UN talks.
“It was pulled out of a hat. But it must be respected,” she added.
