Rich countries’ failure to launch and sufficiently fund a $100 billion green fund at the U.N.-backed climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, would lead to a collapse of the summit, a climate negotiator has warned.
Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, Brazil’s top climate negotiator for the Durban summit, noted that rich countries are becoming less ambitious on how they can contribute to the so-called green fund because of the current global economic slump. He added there are fears among some countries that rich countries would rethink the pace and rhythm of their contributions, the Guardian reports.
The Guardian further notes some officials fear an ongoing dispute between rich and developing countries on who should manage the fund could drive industrialized countries’ attention away from the need to mobilize actual money for the fund.
Figueiredo stressed such a scenario could mean the collapse of the Durban conference.
“We cannot have an empty shell,” he said, according to the Guardian. “It is important to have the structure in place, but it is also important to have a clear commitment for funding.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has earlier voiced a similar call for robust support for the fund, which is expected to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the developing world.
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