Climate action is everyone’s responsibility – as per everyone’s capability. The latter half is quite important to note, especially when a majority of nations are not developed worlds. Not all nations may have the financial, knowledge and resource capabilities to tackle climate change and to take action to contain the impact of climate crisis. Having said that, we need to therefore take a note that we cannot expect the same magnitude of efforts from all countries for climate action, as we can and must expect from the richer part of the world.
Something interesting had happened in 2009, when the developed nations of the world agreed to pay $100 billion a year to the poor countries to enable them to play their part in mitigating climate crisis. The money was supposed to help developing and underdeveloped countries to pay for new technologies and infrastructure to make their economies climate friendly. Rich countries have always known how difficult it is for them to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and carbon-based resources without disrupting their economy. And hence, it has always been clear how much more difficult it is for the poorer nations to do so, especially when they do not have the required financial soundness to make the transition.
Coastal defences to protect against flood surges and the creation of agricultural systems less vulnerable to drought are key areas where the developing world needs urgent financial help to adapt to changing conditions.
Source: BBC
For the poorest countries to play their role in mitigating the effects of climate change, monetary support is crucial for a switch to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro power. However, the truth is bitter and disappointing. An expert report commissioned by the United Nations shows that the target of providing $100 billion every year has not been reached, despite the rich countries now due to set another ambitious target for 2025. This $1000 billion aid was supposed to be a floor, not a ceiling. But the rich and developed countries don’t seem to have understood or paid heed to it. This is why climate action has fallen short of achieving its objectives to date. Countries like China and Brazil are growing rapidly, but still their average income er person figure is quite low.
At COP26, the following commitments have been made.
- The United States has pledged $11.4 billion annually by 2024, along with an additional $3 billion for climate adaptation in particular
- The United Kingdom has committed to double its climate finance to $11.6 billion between 2020 and 2025
- Canada announced a doubling of its climate finance support to $5.3 billion between 2020 and 2025
- Norway has said it will triple its adaptation finance; while Australia said it will double its contribution
- Japan has promised $10 billion over the next five years for reducing emissions in Asia
- Spain is set to increase its climate finance pledge by 50% to $1.55 billion a year from 2025
It must however, not come as a surprise that the previous commitment has hardly been met. The existing pledges have contributed an estimated $96 billion annually by the end of 2022, which translates to a deficit of approx. $52 billion over the past 13 years, since the $100 billion pledge was made. All is not lost, however; as the UK government has said that it is confident of meeting the target of $100 billion by 2023. One can imagine if this confidence will provide any assurance to the Least Developed Countries (LDC).
“Delivering US$100 billion by 2023 isn’t soon enough”, says the LDC’s Gebru Jember, adding that “there is not enough for adapting to climate change, which was promised to be 50% of the US$100 billion.”
Source: BBC
Another issue is that 75% of the money handed over to the LDCs as part of the pledge is in the form of loans, which have to be paid back. The monetary aid that must ideally have been in the form of grants are now a liability for the LDCs, especially when some of those are already in debt. The quality of funding with strings attached has raised many more concerns about the intentions of the developed world and the effectiveness of such pledges.
It is high time that the Least Developed Countries be assisted with the right and justified financial assistance schemes so that they can play an effective role in fighting against climate change. Having Achilles Heel in climate action will lead to a collapse of the entire world in the face of climate catastrophe.
