Wealthy Countries Falling Far Behind on $100Bln Climate Change Pledge

Stilt houses, coping with climate change. Photo: Development Planning Unit at University College London, Flickr

Wealthy countries have fallen far behind on their pledge to provide $100 billion a year to developing countries by 2020 under the Paris climate accord, according to a report published on Monday.

Only $10 billion of the $111 billion invested in clean energy technologies was provided by rich countries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Wealthy nations first made the pledge at a Copenhagen summit in 2009. It was later confirmed by signatories of the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

The $100 billion, to be raised from multiple sources including from the private sector, was intended to be a minimum. By 2025, nations expected to set a revised goal.

UN negotiators meeting in Bonn, Germany, this week are trying to work out how to implement the Paris accord, which aims to keep warming at “well under two degrees Celsius” (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

But US President Donald Trump has pulled his country out of the deal, and analysts have warned that other national leaders may struggle to find the funds to match their ambitions.

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