Rich nations fall short on climate funding pledge: Oxfam

Wealthy nations fell short on their climate finance pledges by as much as $88 billion in 2022, effectively short-changing low- and middle-income countries, a recent report showed.

In 2009, during the 15th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP), developed nations had pledged to collectively mobilize $100 billion annually by 2020 to aid developing countries tackle climate change.

Despite exceeding their $100 billion target two years later, and collecting a total of $116 billion, the “true value” of the contribution was much lower at $28-$35 billion, Oxfam said.

“To put $35 billion into perspective, that’s how much money oil and gas corporations make in just six days,” Oxfam International’s climate change policy lead Nafkote Dabi said, adding that wealthy nations have a knack for “short-changing” developing countries, having done so for years with overstated promises of climate finance.

“Claims that they are now on track with their financial promises are overstated, as this real financial effort is much lower than the reported figure seems to suggest,” she said.

The report noted that although nearly $92 billion of the reported amount was public finance, nearly 70% of this money was provided in the form of loans.

While these high-interest loans further burdened the developing countries of the Global South, wealthy nations continued to overstate the climate-related impact of some of these funds.

At the end, Oxfam estimated that only $15 billion was allocated for crucial adaptation efforts in developing countries.

“Low- and middle-income countries should instead get most of the money in grants, which also need to be better targeted toward authentic climate-related initiatives that will help them adapt to climate harm and move away from fossil fuels,” said Dabi.

A study published in Nature predicted that climate change will displace nearly 143 million people in the Global South by 2050, triggering both voluntary and forced migrations.

“At the moment they’re being penalized twice. First, by the climate harm they did little to cause, and then by having to pay interest on the loans they’re being given to deal with it,” she said.

With the governments planning to come together at the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Azerbaijan in November this year, the establishment of a new climate finance deal will be on the agenda.

The wealthy nations must learn from the shortcomings of the previous $100 billion annual commitment, the report stated, and ensure enhanced transparency and accountability.