Warsaw climate meeting looking to be a bust as rich nations stop cash flow to poor
RTCC reports:
A strategy to deliver US$100 billion of climate finance by 2020 appears no closer after two inconclusive days of UN-sponsored talks in Bonn.The ‘experts meeting’ on scaling up funding for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries was not expected to herald any new spending commitments, but it appears progress towards determining targets or scaling up contributions has stalled.“No-one wanted to touch on this issue,” Oxfam Policy Advisor Jan Kowalzig told RTCC.“No-one really understands what this commitment [of US$100 billion] means, because the conditions around it are so fudged, and this is being used as an excuse for not moving forward”…This year’s main UN climate meeting in the Polish capital was billed by some as the ‘finance summit’, but those hopes appear to be fading fast.Robins hopes there will be “more high level political inquiry” at a meeting in Incheon, South Korea in September which will wrap up this series of long term finance talks.“One of the things developing countries would like to see is more clarity and commitment there,” he said. “From a confidence point of view it would be useful to see what public finance commitments other countries can make in Warsaw and beyond.”Countries have steered clear of any guarantees during negotiations this year, leading some observers to brand finance the ‘elephant in the room’ that needs to be addressed.In response to a lack of assurances, some developing countries are pushing hard for a loss and damage or climate compensation mechanism. With flooding linked to rising sea levels, projected to cost over a trillion a year by 2050, this could prompt richer nations to take action.
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