Climate finance: Missing the bus

Ahighly anticipated climate finance delivery plan released on October 25, a week before COP26 begins in Glasgow, has said that developed countries will likely be able to mobilise $100 billion a year by 2023, a three-year delay from the 2020 deadline. In 2009, at COP15, the developed world pledged to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cope with the climate crisis, through finance from public, private, bilateral, and multilateral sources. However, no formal deal was made.

Climate experts say that $100 billion is a pittance. Trillions of dollars will be needed each year to meet the 2015 Paris agreement goal of restricting global warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius. But the $100 billion was seen as a symbol of good faith. An analysis by Nature shows that most of it has gone to projects to reduce GHG emissions, even though the Paris agreement aimed for a balance between mitigation projects and those that help people adapt to the effects of the climate crisis.

The delay in the delivery plan now casts a shadow on COP26. It may erode the trust of developing countries such as India, which has always stressed equity and justice at climate negotiations. At a United Nations meeting in September, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said that there is an urgent need to discuss whether the scale of resources is commensurate with the scale of the climate needs of developing countries. Rich countries must show their finance commitment at COP26. If not, this edition may become just another multilateral climate meeting, without much to offer.