Climate finance target in developing countries reached two years late (OECD)

BRUSSELS, May 29 (Reuters) – Developed countries have kept their pledge to provide $100 billion (92.1 billion euros) to help developing countries deal with climate change in 2022, but with two years of delay, show data published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday.

In 2009, developed countries committed to transferring $100 billion per year to the poorest countries from 2020, to offset the cost of worsening disasters linked to climate change.

Developed countries provided $115.9 billion in climate finance in 2022, meeting their target for the first time, the OECD said in a report.

This target, however, falls far short of the funds developing countries need to invest in renewable energy at a pace fast enough to meet climate goals and protect their populations from extreme weather and rising seas.

Finance will be the central theme of this year’s United Nations climate summit (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November. The main task will be to set a new target for climate finance in developing countries, to replace the $100 billion target after 2025.

This revision is already the subject of debate among participants.

The European Union, which is currently the largest climate financier, is demanding that more countries contribute to the new pledge.

Conversely, China, the world’s largest emitter of CO2, strongly opposed this request during previous United Nations climate talks.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; French version by Alban Kacher, editing by Kate Entringer)