Climate change: rich nations hit overdue US$100 billion climate fund goal in 2022
- The symbolic target – due to have been met in 2020 – could help build trust ahead of the COP28 summit in Dubai, which starts on November 30
- There are still warnings that ‘financing flows remain inadequate against the magnitude of the impact developing countries are dealing with’
Rich countries finally hit a long-overdue goal to provide US$100 billion of climate finance to poor countries last year, a symbolic target that could help build trust ahead of the COP28 summit in Dubai in two weeks time.
Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that developed countries had provided US$89.6 billion in 2021 and that the US$100 billion goal – originally due to have been reached by 2020 – looks likely to have been met last year.
While that figure pales in comparison to the trillions of dollars that are needed to help developing nations decarbonise their economies and adapt to a warming world, it is still a symbolic milestone that the likes of the US and the EU hope unlocks progress in other areas, such as slashing CO2 emissions.
“Demonstrating progress on past commitments, including on climate finance, is vital to set the stage for productive discussions,” Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s climate minister, and Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s special envoy for the climate, said in a joint statement.
“Our collective commitment to fully delivering on the goal no later than by the end of 2023 remains unwavering.”
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The OECD’s data showed, however, that funding for adaptation decreased US$4 billion in 2021 to US$24.6 billion. At COP26 in Glasgow, the world committed to double the amount of finance going toward those goals.