Since 2009, rich nations have over and over again promised to deliver US$100 billion per year by 2020. Yet over and over again, they have kept on failing. 12 years ago, the same year The Black Eyed Peas released I Got a Feeling, these wealthy nations set expectations and they failed. This is not someone else’s promise. This is their own promise. Developed countries love the world to acknowledge their efforts. They seek praise when they come to the venue. And every little thing they do, they just love to make a show of it. But you know what? They are not The Black Eyed Peas.
The song that developed countries have tried to get us to sing lacks tuning, rhythm and I got a feeling everyone but them is just tired of listening to it. Just last week, the Climate Finance Delivery Plan published by Canada and Germany showed that yet again governments have failed and will not achieve the $100bn goal until 2023, which actually means that we will only know in 2025 if their projection becomes reality. Not a word on adaptation. Nothing on loss and damage.
If developed countries want to make this the COP of enhanced action they first need to prove they know that global action only happens if all countries can participate. The NDC Synthesis report is clear that developing countries can do much more with enhanced access to greater levels of climate finance — ECO believes that trillions are needed. Delivering on the billions is no longer sufficient to tackle climate change and the $100bn Climate Finance Delivery Plan was obsolete before COP26 even started. Time to change the song!
That said, there still could be good news. COP26 is where the first formal discussions on a new collective climate finance goal will take place. Whilst the focus of these discussions will be on agreeing a process for setting the new goal, all countries must use this as an opportunity to learn from the lessons of pre-2020 climate finance. COP26 will see discussions take place on finance in as many as 17 agenda items, including the Adaptation Fund, transparency of reporting on climate finance flows (Common Tabular Formats and Article 9.5), as well as a Review of the Financial Mechanism that serves the UNFCCC.
For two years, the COP Presidencies have engaged countries in discussions on climate finance. If the new global climate finance goal is anything less than aligned with the needs of developing countries and the latest available science, then developed countries will have let entire communities down, especially communities that have historically not contributed to the climate crisis, yet are experiencing the worst aspects of it.
Countries must ensure an actual balance between mitigation and adaptation finance plus provide finance to address loss and damage, all of this must be gender-responsive, come from new and additional sources, and take the form of non-debt generating instruments, namely grants. The next two weeks must culminate in all countries agreeing on how new and additional finance will be provided to start achieving the trillions!