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The European Union and US refused at UN talks in Doha yesterday to commit to concrete climate funding for poor nations as yet another report warned of dire global warming consequences within decades.
As pledges from individual countries started to trickle in, the EU said tight finances prevented it taking on near-term commitments as a bloc, while Washington insisted it was already “doing what we agreed to do.”
But developing countries, who say they need at least another $60bn (46bn euros) from now to 2015 to deal with climate change-induced droughts, floods, rising seas and storms, demanded to see new numbers.
“We want to see finance on the table as we leave here,” said Pa Ousman Jarju, a negotiator for Gambia, representing the Least Developed Countries group.
The talks in Doha are meant to extend the life of the Kyoto Protocol, the world’s only binding pact on curbing Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Developed nations are also being asked to show how they intend to keep a promise to raise funding for the developing world’s climate mitigation plans to $100bn per year by 2020 - up from a total of $30bn in 2010-2012.
European Union climate negotiator Pete Betts told journalists that “these are tough financial times in Europe.”
As a bloc, “we, as other developed countries, are not going to be in a position at this meeting to agree any kind of target for 2015.”
Meanwhile, Germany will raise to 1.8bn euros ($2.35bn) its yearly aid to countries badly hit by climate change, delegates to the climate summit in Doha said yesterday.
“This financing is crucial especially for developing countries,” said German parliamentary environment secretary Katherina Reiche of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.
Germany plans to raise its climate aid from 1.4bn euros this year by 400mn euros in each of the next two years, partially financed by the trade in carbon emission rights.
“Now other rich countries must follow suit,” said Jan Kowalzig of non-government group Oxfam. “We urgently need a new dynamic to reach a reasonable outcome to a difficult conference marked by mistrust.”
Britain earlier announced climate aid worth 2.2bn euros.
