The assessment, by Carbon Brief, compares the share of international climate finance provided by rich countries with their share of carbon emissions to date, a measure of their responsibility for the climate crisis. Rich countries pledged to provide $100 billion a year by 2020, although that target has not been met. The US share of this, based on its previous emissions, would have been $40 billion, yet it provided only $7.6 billion in 2020, the latest year for which data is available. Australia and Canada provided only about a third of the funding indicated by the analysis, while the United Kingdom supplied three-quarters, but was still $1.4 billion short. The issue of climate finance will be critical to progress at the Cop27 summit, which began on Sunday in Egypt. Developing countries have done little to cause the climate emergency, making funding from rich countries crucial to building the confidence needed for concerted global action. Rich countries accept that vulnerable countries face a “life or death situation” and need much more than $100 billion, but delivery of the money has been controversial and slow. The $100 billion was intended to support reducing carbon emissions and work to adapt communities to increasingly extreme weather caused by global warming. But a series of reports last week revealed how close the planet is to climate catastrophe, with no “credible path [of carbon cuts] to 1.5 C in their place,” the internationally agreed temperature limit to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. graphic contributions On adaptation funding, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday: “We need a global increase in adaptation investment to save millions of lives from climate carnage.” However, some climate impacts are so severe that they cannot be adapted, and at Cop27 vulnerable nations will demand progress in “loss and damage” financing to rebuild after disasters. Rich countries have rejected such appeals in the past, fearing unlimited liability. The new analysis covers the 24 “Annex II” countries that account for 40% of historical emissions and are obligated to provide climate finance under the UN climate treaty, including all major G7 economies. It shows that some countries gave more than their share of the $100 billion indicated by their previous emissions. Switzerland’s funding was more than four times higher, and France’s and Norway’s funding was more than three times the amount. Japan, one of the largest providers of financing, provided $13 billion, more than double the amount listed. However, funding from Japan and France was largely in loans, while funding from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK was mainly grants. Grants are strongly favored by developing countries, which often already have high levels of debt. Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives, said: “Basic justice requires those most responsible for causing the climate crisis to financially support those who suffer most on the front lines of climate change. Every year we see the storms getting stronger and the waves getting higher.” grants v loans “Our analysis of the V20 group of the most climate-vulnerable nations finds that our countries have already suffered $500 billion in losses due to climate impacts,” Nasheed told the Guardian. “Right now we’re facing a debt crisis because so many of the assets we took out loans to pay for are being destroyed by climate change. Ease the burden of debt and we can all play our part.” The V20 represents 1.5 billion people in 58 vulnerable countries. Eddy Pérez, director at Climate Action Network Canada, said: “Canada, the US and Australia have accumulated enormous debt to developing countries. This is an absolute scandal. These wealthy polluters have not only contributed little to climate finance, but are also partly responsible for the rise of international fossil fuel financing.” Nafkote Dabi, head of climate change policy at Oxfam International, said: “This new analysis shows that rich countries continue to fail to meet their long-standing pledge of $100 billion a year. The failure is all the more stark when you consider that $100 billion is a pittance compared to what is needed to address the climate crisis. The most important stories on the planet. Get all the week’s environmental news – the good, the bad and the must-haves Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Rich countries are largely responsible for the climate crisis – they must be held to account for providing their fair share of climate finance.” A progress report on the delivery of the $100 billion was published ahead of Cop27 by the governments of Germany and Canada. “It is abundantly clear that the global investment required to address the threat of climate change is far greater than $100 billion and that we must turn our attention to setting an effective climate finance target after 2025,” said the expert. Germany’s international climate envoy. action, Jennifer Morgan, and Canada’s climate change minister, Steven Guilbeault, in the foreword. “There is no doubt that the needs are enormous and that for the most vulnerable countries preventing, minimizing and dealing with loss and damage is not an option, it is a life or death situation,” they say. The progress report found that only five countries – Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden – had increased their funding pledges from 2021. Cop26 president Alok Sharma, who commissioned the report, said trillions of dollars would be needed in total . Responding to the analysis, a Canadian government spokesperson said: “Canada remains steadfast in its commitment to work with others to achieve the collective goal of US$100 billion as soon as possible and by 2025. Canada recognizes the urgency of scaling up of climate finance. That’s why Canada is doubling international climate finance to $5.3 billion over five years, starting in 2021.” The US, UK and Australian governments did not respond to requests for comment. The UK government was recently criticized for failing to pay $300 million in promised climate funds ahead of Cop27. “As has always been the case ever since [UN] process that began in 1992 in Rio, the critical factor in delivering on climate pledges is finance,” said Alden Meyer, at thinktank E3G. Rachel Simon, of Climate Action Network Europe, said: “The world is watching and the clock is ticking. We will hold governments to account at Cop27 to ensure they get on the right track. The money is there – it’s a matter of political will.”
