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).
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So what's a fair share of the #GreenClimateFund for each wealthy nation to contribute?
Calculations by the #WorldResourcesInstitute a couple of years ago claimed that a 'fair share' for each wealthy nation that had pledged to contribute would be the equivalent of 0.22% of Gross National Income (#GNI) each year by 2020. The World Resources Institute found that during 2016–2018 (the first three years of the Green Climate Fund), only four countries were actually already meeting or exceeding their fair share of climate finance contributions: #Germany, #Japan, #France and #Luxembourg. #Sweden and #Norway were close (>80%). #Denmark was the only other country over 66%. At the very bottom of the list came the #USA and #Australia.
For Australia to be making a 0.22% 'fair share' of its (then) roughly US$1.3 trillion GNI, this would amount to around US$2.86b each year (=AU$4.33b). This obviously was not happening. How far short of its pledge had the Coalition government fallen? How much was Australia actually contributing? Even less than the World Resources Institute recorded...
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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).
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