As the world struggles to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, funding to help low- and middle-income countries adapt to climate impacts and reduce future greenhouse gas emissions is still lacking, leaving LMICs scrambling to seek finance elsewhere.
While current climate actions are insufficient to help countries meet their climate targets, scaling up action will only lead to more debt, said Raphael Lam, deputy division chief of Fiscal Affairs at the International Monetary Fund. Speaking at an event by the Center for Global Development earlier this month, Lam — along with other experts from the IMF, World Bank, and Beijing-based think tank China Center for International Economic Exchanges — discussed alternative sources of funding, including carbon taxes and pricing, and the role of the private sector.
But what remained unsaid was that the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP, process is so far failing to deliver on the promised climate finance commitment of $100 billion per year from high-income countries — initially agreed in 2009 at COP 15.
About the author
Disha Shetty
Disha Shetty is an independent science journalist based in Pune, India, who writes about public health, environment, and gender. She is the winner of the International Center for Journalists’ 2018 Global Health Reporting Contest Award. Disha has a Masters in Science, Environment, and Medicine Journalism from Columbia University.
