Paris Summit Falls Short on Delivering Necessary Climate Finance ... - Union of Concerned Scientists
Paris Summit Falls Short on Delivering Necessary Climate Finance Reform | Union of Concerned Scientists
Sanjali De Silva
After two days of meetings, the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, has come to a close. Leaders from countries in the Global North and South met in an effort to develop more inclusive and fair solutions around the shortfalls in climate financing for low- and middle-income countries, as well as financing to help eradicate poverty and improve public health in the Global South.
Below is a statement by Rachel Cleetus, lead economist and policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS):
“While leaders at the Paris Summit acknowledged the significant shortfalls in climate finance and offered some new proposals, the event did not deliver the transformative breakthroughs that are desperately needed. Global South leaders offered bold, innovative solutions but did not get the response they deserved from those in power. It’s critical for leaders from richer nations to follow through and build on agreed next steps to help swiftly unlock the scale of funding low- and middle-income countries require to address the climate crisis.
“The international financial system must undergo long-overdue deep reforms to be fit for purpose in a world where climate change is driving more people into poverty and more countries into unsustainable levels of debt. Nations hit by extreme weather disasters need immediate debt relief and greater access to grants and concessional funding. The worsening and inequitable impacts of climate change—including mounting climate loss and damage—make the need for ramped-up climate finance even more urgent. Richer nations like the United States, which are responsible for the majority of global heat-trapping emissions to date, have a unique responsibility to contribute their fair share to sharp cuts in emissions and climate finance. Fossil fuel companies, whose products are directly responsible for climate change, must also be held accountable and pay for the harms they are causing.”
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”