#Climate Finance

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of nearly all aid from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will significantly impact global climate finance to vulnerable nations, a new analysis by Carbon Brief has found.

The U.S. spent roughly $11 billion on foreign aid last year, with a similar amount slated for this year if plans by former President Joe Biden had been continued.

“The US retreat from its global climate finance commitments is a staggering blow to the chances of keeping global temperature rise to 1.5C [above preindustrial levels]. By abruptly axing nearly a tenth of the limited funds for climate protection in developing countries, it is effectively abandoning millions of communities who have done nothing to cause global heating but who are losing homes, livelihoods and lives because of it,” Anne Jellema, 350.org’s executive director, told The Guardian.

Roughly $8 of every $100 in aid to help developing countries manage extreme weather impacts and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions came from the U.S.

Trump has threatened to cancel nearly all USAID projects, with climate funding likely to be put on the “cutting block,” an expert told Carbon Brief.

U.S. climate finance from USAID reached almost $3 billion in 2023, the analysis said.

The Trump administration has also cancelled an additional $4 billion in funding from the U.S. for the United Nations Green Climate Fund.

The $300 billion climate finance goal agreed upon by nations in 2024 could face an “enormous gulf” if the U.S. stops providing and reporting any official climate finance, another expert said.

The U.S. is the fourth-largest international climate finance provider, but also the largest economy and biggest carbon dioxide emitter in the world. In other words, its wealth and climate change responsibility are disproportionate to its contributions to global climate finance.

Just 0.24 percent of the country’s gross national income (GNI) is given as aid to developing countries — the same as the Czech Republic, whose GNI is three times less.

The Biden administration’s significant increases in climate finance helped developed countries reach their $100 billion target in 2022.

[leparoledelmondo]

Finanza climatica

Come trovare fondi da investire nella transizione? Soprattutto per quei Paesi che più hanno bisogno di risorse e che subiscono maggiormente gli effetti non solo del cambiamento climatico, ma anche di un sistema socioeconomico profondamente iniquo. Insomma, oserei dire che è una questione di equità e giustizia. Una definizione di “finanza climatica” è ardua, con i Paesi in via di sviluppo che premono per stabilire linee guida chiare su cui basare i contributi finanziari, e i Paesi sviluppati che preferirebbero ovviamente mantenere l’ambiguità attuale.

Ma dal nostro piccolo blog potremmo suggerire soluzioni come, ad esempio, incrementare i finanziamenti pubblici facendo pagare i responsabili della gran parte delle emissioni. 

Altri soluzioni potrebbero essere: una tassa sui profitti record delle aziende fossili, l’abbandono delle sovvenzioni ai combustibili fossili, una tassa sui maxi-redditi (il 10% più ricco della popolazione mondiale è responsabile del 50% delle emissioni). 

Così, giusto per fare qualche esempio che gira nell’aria.

[geohoneylovers]

Taking Action for a Sustainable Future: A Global Stocktake "Must Be the Tipping Point" to Limit Global Warming" TO learn more: https://blog.geohoney.com/tipping-point-towards-limiting-global-warming

[ceevee5]

Lee White, Gabon’s environment minister, said: “The climate crisis is such that every country has to contribute to the solution. Gabon is 88% covered by tropical rainforest. We have maintained deforestation below 0.1% over 5 decades and net absorb over 100m tonnes of CO2 annually. Few countries are doing more for the planet. Developed nations, particularly the UK, which was at the origin of the Industrial Revolution, have to do the heavy lifting – but all too often they make false promises and fail to provide true leadership or even honour their modest financial commitments.“

[h1p3rn0v4]

Para 2050, las economías más avanzadas disfrutarían de un aumento del 60% en el crecimiento del PIB per cápita, mientras que para la misma fecha los países de menores ingresos experimentarían un aumento del 124% respecto de los niveles de 2025.

[pintsizedangel]

What had happened was....

The process of preparing to write this post reminded me of why I shamefully abandoned this blog many years ago. Staying abreast with, and sharing news that is often both disheartening and disappointing is hard. But having relevant and well informed conversations on climate change requires that we explore the good, the bad and down right ugly realities. So let’s have a look at what happened at COP…

[saxafimedianetwork]

Predictions for Africa in 2025 – Trump Will Recognize Somaliland

2025 #predictions for #Africa: Smart forecast from Analyst @_hudsonc suggests @POTUS may recognize #Somaliland, potentially shifting US forces from #Djibouti & reevaluating aid to #Mogadishu. A significant move that could reshape the region's dynamics.

Continue reading Predictions for Africa in 2025 – Trump Will Recognize Somaliland

[tofutiger]

Memorandum of Civil Society to the 3rd Ordinary Session of the African Union Ministers of Trade, Cairo, Egypt, June, 5-9 2005

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Devex Invested: Inside Brazil’s G20 vision for multilateral development banks

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#COP28 conference looks set for conflict after tense negotiations on climate damage fund #LossAndDamage #PowerAsymmetry #ClimateFinance

UN Special Rapporteur on #Poverty decries Amazon, Walmart, DoorDash for ‘shameful’ wages and union-busting #LaborRights #HumanRights #CorporateGovernance

World Bank-IMF meetings: A start, but still a long way to go #BrettonWoodsInstitutions #ClimateFinance #DevelopmentFinance #IFAReform

More than one-fifth of claimed #EU aid is ‘hot air,' NGO study warns #ODA#Finance4Development#GlobalGovernance

US, EU blamed as #climate fund talks break down over #WorldBank push #LossAndDamage #ClimateFinance

Explainer: How the #UN works behind the scenes during crises #History

[nepalenergyforum]

Nepal at COP-29: Addressing Climate Challenges on the Global Stage

Nepal should showcase its best practices, such as forest conservation, investments in clean energy, and the promotion of hydropower, more prominently on the international stage. Additionally, it is crucial to urge developed nations to fulfill their commitments to loss and damage funding and to enhance small countries’ access to climate finance for adaptation efforts. Climate change and its…

[duncangabi]

PNG's decision to forgo attending COP shortsighted

The Minister’s concern is that “PNG has not received a single toea in support to date”. I don’t know what the Minister is talking about, of course we have received some form of support from international governments through COP.I personally think PNG has seen some tangible benefits from participating in the COP, especially in securing climate finance, fostering collaborative partnerships, and…

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

For the past two years, world leaders, economists and activists have called for sweeping overhauls to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that would make the two lending institutions more adept at combating climate change.

Discussions about how to reform lumbering multilateral bureaucracies can get tedious quickly. But ultimately the debates are all about money. How to make more money available for developing nations that are being battered by extreme weather? And how to make sure poor countries don’t spend too much money servicing their debt?

Experts estimate that at least $1 trillion a year is needed to help developing countries adapt to hotter temperatures and rising seas, build out clean energy projects and cope with climate disasters.

“For many countries, they will only be able to implement strong new climate plans if we see a quantum leap in climate finance this year,” Simon Stiell, the United Nations climate chief, said in a speech last week.

Starting in 2022, a burst of activity had made the prospect of such a quantum leap seem within reach.

Policymakers and economists gathered in Barbados and hashed out an ambitious reform agenda. The president of the World Bank stepped down after coming under fire for not doing enough to address climate change, and was replaced by an executive who promised to embrace climate work. Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, hosted a summit aimed at building momentum for the work.

But at the annual spring meetings of the World Bank and the I.M.F., which are taking place in Washington this week, reality is setting in.

While more money has become available to address climate issues over the last year or so, the sweeping reforms many had envisioned are proving to be out of reach.

Some of that is a process problem. Overhauling 80-year-old international institutions with complicated governance structures and tens of thousands of employees is no small task.

But much of the challenge comes back to money. So far, the countries that control the World Bank — including the United States, Germany, China and Japan — have not allocated huge new sums for climate issues in the developing world, and the private sector has not stepped in to fill the gap.

“The numbers do not show the kind of progress that we really need,” said Rachel Kyte, a visiting professor at Oxford and former World Bank executive. “We’ve got to get a little bit more radical.”

[impact-newswire]

UK climate finance helps reduce more than 105 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions globally

The UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) results published today outline how it has helped 110 million people adapt to the effects of climate change. Published10 October 2024 the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) has helped 110 million people adapt to the effects of climate change reduced or avoided over 105 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, and avoided 750,000 hectares of…

[wamathai]

Absa Bank advanced Ksh. 36.9 Billion in inclusive financing in 2023

Absa Bank has indicated that it advanced close to KES 60 billion in sustainable finance in 2023. This figure, contained in the Bank’s Sustainability Report for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, is made up of KES 22.3 billion advanced as climate and sustainability-linked finance and KES 36.9 billion in inclusive finance. The report is themed, ‘Banking on a Better, Sustainable…

[townpostin]

DAV Bistupur: Decennial DBMUN 2024 Kicks Off with 340 Students Debating Global and National Issues

The 10th edition of DBMUN began on August 16, 2024, with 340 students from Jharkhand Zone-E participating in various committees and debating critical issues. The Decennial Negotiation Summit of DAV Public School, Bistupur Model United Nations (DBMUN) commenced on August 16, 2024, with 340 students from different DAV Public Schools in Jharkhand Zone-E participating in the two-day event. JAMSHEDPUR…

[h1p3rn0v4]

Sin embargo, no todo esto tiene que venir de los gobiernos de los países ricos. Según el IHLEG, aproximadamente la mitad debería provenir del sector privado, que puede financiar proyectos como la construcción de parques solares y eólicos en los países en desarrollo. Alrededor de una cuarta parte del billón de dólares debería provenir de bancos multilaterales de desarrollo, como el Banco Mundial, que en última instancia son financiados por el mundo rico. Entre 80.000 y 100.000 millones de dólares deberían provenir directamente de los países ricos en forma de ayuda, aproximadamente el doble de la cantidad actual. El resto podría provenir principalmente de nuevas fuentes de financiación, como impuestos a los combustibles fósiles, a los viajeros frecuentes o al transporte marítimo.

Lidy Nacpil, coordinadora del Movimiento de los Pueblos Asiáticos sobre Deuda y Desarrollo, dijo: “Entregar financiamiento climático a través de préstamos no sólo contradice el principio de reconocer la responsabilidad histórica, sino que es profundamente injusto obligar a los países empobrecidos a endeudarse aún más para abordar la emergencia climática. No basta con que la cantidad de financiamiento climático sea adecuada. Los 5 billones de dólares anuales que se le deben al sur global deberían ser públicos, no generar deuda, nuevos y adicionales, y entregarse sin condicionalidades”.

Los inversores privados también tienden a rechazar proyectos que ayuden a los países a adaptarse a los impactos de la crisis climática, como sequías, inundaciones y olas de calor. Por esta razón, varias figuras influyentes creen que la parte del billón de dólares que proviene directamente de los presupuestos de los países desarrollados, y preferiblemente en forma de donaciones en lugar de préstamos, debería destinarse en su mayor parte o en su totalidad a proyectos de adaptación, en lugar de a iniciativas de reducción de carbono.