Climate Finance
There is no standard, internationally agreed definition of climate finance.
It generally refers to local, national or transnational financing for activities aiming to address the challenges of climate change with an aims to mitigate emissions and enhancing sinks of greenhouse gases.
It also helps in reducing vulnerability of human and ecological systems to negative climate change impacts.
$100 billion climate finance goal was first pledged in 2009;
Later the Paris agreement (2015) included US$100 billion annually in finance, committed by developed countries by 2020 for developing countries.
Article 9 of the Paris Agreement stipulates that developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties to address challenges of climate change
This $100 billion goal was not a negotiated goal, and is insufficient to deal with climate challenges faced by developing countries.
To facilitate the provision of climate finance, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change established a financial mechanism to provide financial resources to developing country Parties.
Recent concerns
In the last few years, climate justice activists have been campaigning for the world’s economically developed countries to raise their investments in climate adaptation and mitigation, including paying for other countries’ abilities to deal with the effects of climate change.
Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia have historically contributed the least to global warming; yet, they are bearing the bigger brunt of climate disasters – both in the form of extreme natural phenomena and debt distress.
On the other hand, countries in North America and Europe have contributed and continue to contribute the most to global warming, and are also the creditors of the debt crisis.
In 2019 and 2020 Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest investment fraction in climate finance (1.3% of its GDP), followed by East Asia and the Pacific (1%) and South Asia (0.9%).
The U.S. and Canada had the lowest proportionate investment, at only 0.3% of their GDP.
Most countries in debt distress or facing a high risk are in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is also the most vulnerable to climate change.
Overall, countries at high risk or in debt distress are also more vulnerable to climate change.
Three of the eight countries in South Asia are in this group.
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