A new, larger climate finance target than $100 billion per year will need to be enacted within four years, according to Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
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Discussions for the new climate finance target will need to begin at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this November, Espinosa said at a Devex event alongside the 76th United Nations General Assembly.
High-income countries promised $100 billion per year in climate finance by 2020 to support low-income countries in dealing with the effects of climate change. But despite what Espinosa called the “absolutely critical” importance of the $100 billion to successful climate diplomacy, that target has been missed.
“If you are a developing country and you don't see your partners really delivering on what was promised, it is really eroding trust.”
— Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary, U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change“At COP 26 we will also have to start a discussion on what will be the climate finance objective after 2025, because this [$]100 billion was the goal for 2020 to 2025. After 2025, we need to go up,” Espinosa said. “This decade is absolutely critical. We need those decisions and we need the resources.”
Alongside paying for the resources needed to deal with a warming climate, failing to provide the $100 billion per year is also undermining confidence in global climate negotiations, according to Espinosa.
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She said: “If you are a developing country and you don't see your partners really delivering on what was promised, it is really eroding trust.”
Espinosa described trust as the “basis for international cooperation” and said it was “absolutely the most valuable currency in bringing the world towards a better situation.”
“We really need that commitment to become a reality,” added Espinosa.
Some progress on climate finance is being made at UNGA. Shortly after Espinosa’s comments, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the United States would double its climate finance funding to $11.4 billion per year.
An Oxfam analysis last year found that the value of climate finance provided was just a third of what was reported, and around 80% of it was loans rather than grants, which add to the debt burden of low-income countries.
About the author
William Worley@willrworley
Will Worley is the Climate Correspondent for Devex, covering the intersection of development and climate change. He previously worked as UK Correspondent, reporting on the FCDO and British aid policy during a time of seismic reforms. Will’s extensive reporting on the UK aid cuts saw him shortlisted for ‘Specialist Journalist of the Year’ in 2021 by the British Journalism Awards. He can be reached at william.worley@devex.com.
