REACTION: Little for developing countries to cheer about in climate finance report

“While this report provides helpful information on various actions to advance the climate finance agenda, it fails to boost confidence that developed countries will make significant and swift progress on meeting their commitment to provide $100 billion annually, over 2020-2025, to assist poor countries. The report would have been an ideal moment for developed countries to spell out how they will compensate for missing the $100 billion mark earlier through additional climate finance in subsequent years.

“Poor countries who are worst affected by this climate crisis will find little here to cheer. Their citizens are struggling now to cope with catastrophic, climate-induced disasters such as droughts, floods and unpredictable rainfall, which have reduced food production, resulted in water shortages, destroyed livelihoods and displaced millions.

"To make matters worse, rich contributors gave more than 70 per cent of their climate finance in the form of loans in 2020. This means that poor countries are being loaded up with more debt to pay for climate damage.

“At the upcoming COP27 in Egypt, developed countries must address this glaring gap by committing to significantly increase grant-based finance, something that developing countries have long been calling for.”

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