In response to an announcement by US Climate Envoy Secretary John Kerry about US plans for the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), Kelly Stone from ActionAid USA said:
“Carbon markets are not climate finance. Secretary Kerry keeps repeating that public finance alone will not be enough to meet our climate goals, but no one is actually claiming this. Climate finance is fundamental to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, and the US has already repeatedly failed to meet its obligations. It’s exhausting to hear this talking point over and over again when the US still owes money to the Green Climate Fund for a 2014-era pledge.
“Carbon markets have historically failed to fulfill climate goals and often profoundly harm communities and undermine human rights. The Secretary’s claims that this time will be different aren’t enough. There is no space for offsets if we are to meet a 1.5C goal.”
ENDS
To contact the ActionAid USA press office, email Jenna.Farineau@actionaid.org.uk.
Notes to Editor
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 15 million people living in more than 40 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty.