Prospect of a Just Climate Deal Hanging by a Thread
When world leaders met in Bangkok, Thailand, to continue negotiating a global climate agreement, one thing became abundantly clear: The prospects of a just climate deal are hanging by a thread. If an equitable deal is not struck soon, the possibility of escape from poverty for millions of people across the globe will be further threatened.
October’s meeting in Bangkok was part of a series of meetings leading up to the U.N. Climate Change Conference this December in Copenhagen. However, developed nations, including the United States, are jeopardizing the entire process by evading their responsibilities to reduce their emissions and financially assist developing nations adapting to changing weather patterns.
A Pokot woman tends to her aloe plants. Kenyans are diversifying their crops to combat recent droughts associated with climate change.
Copyright © Des Willie/ActionAid
Developed nations’ overuse of resources and unabated pollution is creating weather pattern changes around the globe. The United States, has been the single largest emitter of the greenhouse gases over the past century. However, developing nations – those who have contributed least to the problem – are the ones experiencing the worst impacts of climate change now.
As part of a “just” approach to combating climate change, ActionAid is calling on rich countries to cut emissions by at least 40 percent of what they were in 1990 by 2020. Additionally, the United States should provide at least $86 billion a year by 2015 to support developing countries in their efforts to adapt to climate change.
But in Bangkok, both the United States and the European Union attempted to shift the burden on to developing countries by arguing that all developing countries (except for the 50 poorest countries in the world) should pay towards the costs of adapting to climate change despite their minimal contribution to the problem.
The United States is particularly fallible for holding up the process because it will not put its emission reduction targets on the table, or commit any financing for adaptation or clean technology transfer.
Instead, the U.S. negotiating team is waiting for Congress to pass a climate bill – a move unlikely to occur before the December meeting in Copenhagen.
Management of Climate Finance: Step Forward by the United States
While it is critical that developed nations dedicate substantial funding to help poor nations adapt to climate change, how that money is used and managed will determine whether it meets the needs of poor and excluded communities.
Central to the debate, 132 developing countries have rejected the role of the World Bank and Global Environment Facility in managing climate change finance due to their poor experience with these institutions. Instead, they have called for a new global climate fund with full accountability to the U.N. Framework on Convention’s Conference of Parties – the supreme decision making body for climate change within the United Nations.
For a long time, the United States has made it clear that any money for climate change would have to go through “existing institutions,” meaning the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility.
However, during negotiations in Bangkok, the United States shifted its position to support a new a new “Global Fund for Climate.”
While the U.S. proposal for a Global Climate Fund is a step in the right direction, as it at least acknowledges the need for a new climate fund, it would likely be housed at an “existing financial institution,” such as the World Bank. However, serious problems with their approach exist. For example, the fund would get its money through voluntary contributions. The U.S. proposal also ignores the historic responsibility of rich countries to pay for the costs of adaptation and mitigation in poor countries, and expects almost every country to contribute to the fund.
Instead, ActionAid is calling for a system outside of the World Bank and Global Environment Facility that ensures that funding would flow directly to developing countries instead of through outside implementing agencies. Furthermore, ActionAid calls for developed countries contribute to the fund through mandatory and legally binding commitments.
Next Step
The next round of climate negotiations will take place in Barcelona, Spain from Nov. 2 – 6. ActionAid will be there representing poor and excluded communities around the globe, and tracking the negotiations.
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