"Diplomats meet every June in Bonn to try and advance the stickiest points in climate negotiations so that political leaders can finalize agreements at the year-end COP summit.
At this year's Bonn talks, which run until June 13, the main issue is money — how much wealthy nations should pay to help low-income nations cope with climate change."
Fascinating Carbon Brief interview with Li Shuo, head of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), on the prospects for China’s climate contribution, ahead of COP29. #China#ClimateEmergency#ClimateFinance
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."
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.
"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.
@CelloMomOnCars kereta cepat Indonesia cina (Indonesia- China HSR). First it was Business to business, but now Indonesia national budget is a collateral for the debt KCIC holds, which keeps increasing as the cost overrun is high
Oh wow.
On the one hand, nice to hear that HSR is coming on this busy corridor.
On the other hand: now that the government got involved, I think it should get a stake. As in, participate in the eventual profit. So that not all of it flows abroad.
"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
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."
These are sums owed for atmospheric appropriation, and do not cover broader questions about the costs of #transition, #adaptation and #damages."
"We must also pay attention to large class #inequalities within nations. Responsibility for excess #emissions is largely held by the wealthy classes who have very high consumption and who wield disproportionate #power over production and national policy. They are the ones who must bear the costs of compensation."
Nature mag made this article open access, you can look up your country in the interactive graphs.
The study shows that history went from the world owing China, to China owing the world for their emissions, one of those cliffs on which international talks strand.