Financing a global climate deal

Nov 13th, 2009 11:59 AM UTC
By Andreas.Huebers

As the Copenhagen climate change summit draws closer, the question of how to support developing countries in adapting to climate change, and to enable them to access clean technology, is becoming a make or break issue.

On 30 October, the European Union put its numbers on the table, becoming the first climate negotiation partner to do so. The EU estimates that developing countries will need € 100 billion for adaptation and mitigation by 2020. A large part of that sum would be mobilized by the private sector and developing countries’ own resources. The EU says the remaining € 22-50 billion needs to be covered by donors, and the EU is prepared to contribute its share (presumably around 30%). In addition, the EU agrees that so called ‘fast-start’ international public support (of around € 5-7 billion annually) is needed in the 3 years before any climate agreement comes into force.

This is well below the Worldbank estimate that 75 – 100 billion USD is needed annually between 2010 and 2050 for adaptation alone (20% of which is for Africa), whilst African countries are themselves calling for 67 billion USD for adaptation for the continent.

Yet, the EU proposal is the only financing option with concrete figures on the table of climate negotiators at the moment, and ONE has welcomed it as a first step to unlock the negotiations. But much more work is needed.

The final round of pre Copenhagen negotiations concluded in Barcelona on 6 November with very limited progress and hardened positions. So much so that the African delegation – who for the first time in international negotiations are represented through a unified negotiating team and mandate – walked out of the room on the second day in protest.

Elsewhere the G20 finance ministers, meeting on 7 November in St. Andrews, Scotland, focused on climate financing but could not agree on tangible outcomes. The key question remains whether these funds will be additional to both existing and promised overseas development aid levels. The British government is the most progressive saying that not more than 10% of existing or promised aid levels should be spent on climate related activities. But the fact that the UK is the only major economy with such a proposal, shows that the financing figures currently being discussed could be taken from existing programmes to fight poverty.

With less than a month now to go before Copenhagen, time is running out on achieving an agreement that will provide that best possible deal for the world’s poorest people. If Copenhagen is to be successful is critical that policymakers take special consideration of these people, especially in Africa – both to address their disproportionate need to adapt to impending climate change, but also to work with the continent as a mitigation partner going forward.

TAGS: Climate and Development, Copenhagen