Tensions rise as nations demand $1.4T in climate aid - E&E News by POLITICO
Tensions rise as nations demand $1.4T in climate aid - E&E News by POLITICO
Frustration spilled over during international climate talks Tuesday as a U.S. negotiator expressed dismay at efforts by developing nations to ratchet up climate aid from wealthy nations.
It came as officials gathered in Bonn, Germany, to lay the groundwork for a new finance target that will be a key part of global climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November.
The meeting lurched to an impasse when Egypt’s negotiator proposed a new level of climate aid — $1.4 trillion — that developing countries would receive every year from the world’s richest nations. The figure surprised western officials who have yet to name a dollar amount despite proposals from India and Saudi Arabia to increase climate aid to between $1 trillion and $1.1 trillion.
“I would love to hear where that $1.4 trillion number came from. I’ve just gotten a flurry of text saying, wasn’t it $1.3? Has the cost gone up $100 billion between today and yesterday?” said Kevin Adams, the lead climate finance negotiator at the U.S. State Department.
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Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”