Wealthy Countries Fail To Muster Promised Funds To Assist Poorer Countries In Fight Against Global Warming

From CBC: Wealthy countries have failed to deliver on their promise to provide US$100 billion per year to help poor countries combat the effects of global warming and reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, CBC News reported Monday.

• The news comes from a report jointly drafted by Canada’s Environment Minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, and his German counterpart ahead of the COP26 climate summit in the U.K.

Wealthy countries first made the funding commitment in 2009 at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark, based on the fact that richer countries are largely responsible for climate-altering emissions that are now disproportionately impacting poorer countries.

• According to CBC, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that funds mustered by developed countries increased from US$58.5 billion in 2016 to US$79.6 billion in 2019, with countries on track to hit $100 billion by 2023.

During a press conference Monday, Wilkinson said the failure has "eroded trust,” and that the private sector must “step up” and match funding commitments, as was envisioned when wealthy countries first promised the funds a decade ago.

• According to CBC, climate-action groups have said that the $100 billion commitment is not sufficient to help poorer countries address the effects of rising greenhouse gas emissions.

African nations believe wealthy countries should increase the pledged funding to $1.3 trillion per year by 2030, CBC added.

Read CBC’s full story here.

Flashback: The news that wealthy countries have failed to provide the funds they promised to poorer countries to fight global warming comes after Wilkinson said on Oct. 14 that he was “confident (we will) get to the $100-billion number,” as reported by iPolitics.

• “I’m increasingly confident we’ll be able to achieve that, and I think that’s a critically important part of ensuring a successful COP 26,” Wilkinson said earlier this month.

Read iPolitics’ full story from Oct. 18 here.