Developed countries to meet climate finance goal 3 years late: plan

Developed countries will likely be three years late on meeting their goal of giving $100 billion in climate finance annually to developing countries.

In line with a goal first set in 2009, the world’s developed countries said they would contribute that much to help developing countries with climate change mitigation by the year 2020. 

But a new report called the Climate Finance Delivery Plan published Monday by the United Kingdom’s COP26 Presidency says that goal is now expected to be met in 2023. 

COP26 is the name of the major United Nations climate change summit that starts this weekend, at which countries will negotiate the future of global climate action. The plan was put together by officials from Canada and Germany. 

The report says that the $100 billion goal was not likely to be met by 2022, but expressed “confidence” that it will be met in 2023, based on pledges made by developed countries as of last week. 

“Developing countries have been rightfully disappointed that so far developed countries have not delivered on the $100 billion pledge that was already given in 2009,” said a statement from Jochen Flasbarth, the state secretary in Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, one of the officials who put the plan together. 

“Hence, I am glad that the process I was honoured to lead jointly … has created momentum to help complying with the finance commitment overall in the period up to 2025,” Flasbarth said. 

In recent weeks, the U.S. upped its own commitment to international climate finance, with President Biden saying in September that he would double U.S. climate financing for developing countries. 

As the conference approaches, many have expressed concerns about equity for developing countries in areas including finance, the energy transition and COVID-19 vaccinations.