Of course; a govt built on mendacity would meet its climate spending pledges, not by actually spending the money but by reclassifying other expenditures so they can be double counted.
Its not like we needed any more evidence of the moral bankruptcy of the Tories, but here it is anyway!
@ChrisMayLA6 Here's the original article from Carbon Brief's Josh Gabbatiss. Carbon Brief did the original Freedom of Information request.
"By redefining existing funds pegged for development banks, investment in foreign businesses and humanitarian aid as “climate finance”, the government expects to add £1.72bn to its total."
Looks like the idea is to outsource #ClimateFinance to entities which can't easily be strangled by the next administration. A pseudo capital injection to produce 150 G$ in grants and loans.
"Given the spiralling costs of deadly heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels, the new #ClimateFinance target is expected to be far larger than the existing U.N. commitment of rich countries to spend $100 billion per year from 2020, a target they failed to meet on time.
A draft statement for a meeting of #EU foreign ministers later this month showed the 27-nation country bloc will argue the oil and gas sector should also contribute."
Unable and/or unwilling to cough up even the inadequate $100 bn a year in #ClimateFinance to developing countries, now EU countries are pointing their finger at the #FossilFuel industry and saying the polluter needs to pay.
Last year Big Oil and Gas made over $300 bn in profit by wrecking the planet, so it's not unreasonable that they be asked to pay for adaptation and resilience building in poor countries.
OpEd from Bangladesh:
"It simply defies common sense that the world powers are allocating big chunks of their national budget worth hundreds of billions of dollars to finance wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, when climate change-induced extreme weather events are wreaking havoc everywhere."
"With steady improvements in the energy intensity of economic growth (meaning that less energy is required to produce an additional unit of global GDP) and, more recently, a dramatic rise in clean energy deployment, there has been a growing divergence between GDP growth and CO2 emissions in most economies around the world. "
In middle-income and developing countries, GDP and emissions are starting to diverge.
Southeast Asia (powered by coal and oil) and the Middle East (oil) are laggards.
Developing countries are at a crossroads: either rich countries help them in a clean energy transition, or the dirty fuel people will be very happy to "help" them get stuck with dirty energy.
Our choice.
Been thinking of my late mentor & collaborator Dr. Saleemul Huq & wondering what he would have had to say about #COP28. Or how his presence there might have informed, inspired, interrupted different discussions, as it had in all prior COPs. Pretty sure he would have had scathing words at the end.
What is Australia's fair share when it comes to financing the necessary climate transition?
In a headline today, the Australian government has pledged AU$150m in #ClimateFinance for Pacific nations.
Good news, right? Isn't this PM Anthony #Albanese "ending the #ClimateWars" by actually doing what #Australia ought to have done years ago? Let's consider that assumption.
Back in 2009 at the much hyped, but ultimately deeply disappointing international climate negotiations in #Copenhagen known as #COP15, one step forward that was agreed, even as more comprehensive or ambitious agreements slipped away was that the wealthy nations of the world (including #Australia) collectively pledged to be providing US$100b each year to help the poorer nations transition away from #FossilFuels (#ClimateMitigation) and develop in ways that help societies adapt to the warming that cannot be mitigated (#ClimateAdaptation).
1/8
The provision of US$100b in #ClimateFinance per year was promised by 2020, with a #GreenClimateFund being set up in 2010–11 and national contributions commencing in subsequent years. An updated agreement in 2012 clarified that these funds had to be "new and additional", i.e. not simply a rebranding of existing #ForeignAid. And they had to be made to the international Green Climate Fund, not via other bilateral or multilateral agreements.
Disputes over the international distribution of responsibilities for funding #ClimateMitigation and #ClimateAdaptation measures—costly measures that would benefit everyone—had long been one of the main sticking points in the decades of UN climate negotiations since 1992 when the #UNFCCC was established. (UNFCCC = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, i.e. the international agreement to have international climate negotiations in the first place, and how to go about those negotiations.)
2/8
So, today's announcement by PM #Albanese is at least a re-engagement with the global community on #ClimateFinance after years of #Coalition isolationism. However, it is worth noting that of the AU$150m announced today, only $50m goes to the #GreenClimateFund, with $100m directed towards a different multilateral body, the Pacific Resilience Facility. That's the equivalent of about US$33m, or 0.002% of Australia's #GNI of roughly US$1.6 trillion (2022 figures).
To be contributing the 0.22% of GNI mentioned earlier, Australia would need to contribute more than one hundred times that much each year (around US$3.5b, or AU$5.3b).
6/8
And to make up for the last four years of contributing nothing (and even putting aside the many years of failure under the #Coalition between 2013–19 when finances ought to have been ramping up to meet the 2020 goal), #Australia has a backlog of about $AU20b to be seen as anything like a 'fair' contributor to the #GreenClimateFund, remembering that the US$100b/yr represents only a fraction of what the developing world needs to ensure a just and swift transition to a climate-stable future.
And that's before we consider the #LossAndDamage fund announced a few days ago (another long-term sticking point in #UNFCCC negotiations and a separate piece of international #ClimateFinance), to which Australia has not yet made any kind of pledge.
Until Australia takes credible steps towards those kinds of figures, Australian government promises ought to be treated by all our neighbours as so much smoke.
7/8 #AusPol#ClimatePol
Stiglitz "said rich countries should support the creation of $300bn of #IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) each year to finance a global green transition."
But the devil is in the details: if this money comes in the shape of high interest loans that's not helping developing countries, that's loansharking.
"Stiell called for the #WorldBank and governments to “step up the pace” on #ClimateFinance, including by addressing new sources of funds. These could include a frequent flyer levy and taxes on the carbon emissions from #shipping.
He called for reform at the development banks, [and] changes to the banks’ lending practices that would give poor countries greater access to finance."
#ClimateDiary There is no question that #COP28 will be the most important yet. The #GlobalStocktake will be the “biggest accountability moment in history”, and on its basis leaders will need to make crucial key decisions about fiscal and policy commitments. With less than two months to go, we need to all be as well informed as possible and put pressure on leaders as much as we can. I thought I would start a 🧵that I will keep going in the run up 1/n
"The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Beijing’s answer to the #WorldBank, is set to unveil a “#climate action plan” this week that will become its top priority and spur a sharp increase in financing."
This could be a good thing. It could also put developing countries into deeper debt, the way the World Bank and the #IMF have done.
"Prolonged heatwaves, floods, raging wildfires and devastating hurricanes have struck these wealthier regions, leaving them bewildered.
Against this backdrop, it should surprise no one if richer nations redirect financing that was previously allocated for the Global South’s adaptation efforts, channelling it instead towards domestic recovery efforts."
2 years ago COP26 President Alok Sharma tasked the at that time 🇨🇦 Minister for Enviroment Jonathan Wilkinson & me to work on a plan how far industrialized countries had delivered to provide 100bn US$/year by 2020. Our assessment: the target was not achieved; we urged all donors to deliver the latest by 2023. It's time now! Many poor countries in the global south are suffering most under climate change - although their (historic) emissions are very low! #climatefinance
"As new #rains threaten the same areas hit by last year’s #floods, #Pakistan finds itself at the mercy of a pernicious pattern: #ClimateChange is driving more intense rainfall, which drives more intense flooding, which stymies #recovery from past floods.
Among all the challenges, the biggest might be #food. The flood’s impact on livestock and farmland has limited Pakistan’s ability to feed its citizens: 10.5 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity."
"Pakistan’s slow recovery is creating a vicious cycle. Crop shortages caused by the flooding drove up food prices, then the government raised taxes and energy prices in an attempt to meet the terms of a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund. That pushed up inflation, which hit 38% in May compared to a year earlier. Pakistanis started cutting back on spending, and job opportunities dried up. "
"The global #financial system is stacked against #ProjectDevelopers in countries on the front lines of #ClimateChange. This is paralysing action in communities that are most at risk from the impacts of climate change, such as extreme cyclones, droughts, floods and heat.
Unlocking #ClimateFinance for mitigation, adaptation and nature regeneration requires a fundamental overhaul and disruption of the global financial system."
Here is the main practical reason that developed countries have been reluctant to pay up on #ClimateFinance, #LossAndDamage, and generally helping developing countires: we owe a lot.
As in, thousands of dollars for every citizen in developed countries. Every year. Until 2050.
This paper spells it out, by country:
"The #compensation system is based on the idea that the #atmosphere is a #commons, a natural resource for everyone to use equitably and sustainably."
"A vicious cycle of crippling #debt, #disaster, and more burdensome repayments prevent [low to middle income countries] from investing in climate #resilience, strengthening democratic institutions, and delivering public services that can reduce economic and social #inequalities."