UN climate chief begs for funding – 03/24/2024 – Environment

The UN’s climate change arm faces “severe financial challenges” that could leave the organization of the annual global climate summit COP struggling to help governments tackle global warming, its chief said.

Speaking during a meeting of more than 30 countries in Copenhagen, Denmark, in a two-day ministerial meeting, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Simon Stiell, said only half of its budget is covered.

The UNFCCC, which oversees the coordination of global efforts on climate issues, said it needs 74 million euros (about R$402 million) over 2024 and 2025 for its so-called main budget, which is funded by contributions from national governments. and was agreed at COP28, a summit held last year in Dubai.

Proposed spending includes up to €4.8 million on communications, €4.5 million for the running of the executive board that oversees the board, led by Stiell, and €3 million on its conferences.

The body also said it needs another 78 million euros for its so-called supplementary budget, which comes from voluntary contributions, but so far it only has around 10 million euros in cash.

This additional funding is to cover demands such as work on countries’ climate plans and reports on how nations are complying with the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as activities related to the agreement reached at COP28.

The UNFCCC’s call for funding comes as concerns grow over how to tackle climate change as the issue has fallen from the budget priorities of governments around the world, with finances strained by the Covid pandemic and the energy crisis.

At the same time, many countries are already dealing with costly consequences of climate change, including extreme heat, wildfires and floods.

More than a hundred business leaders from companies including Coca-Cola, Google and Ikea also highlighted the dangers in a letter on Thursday (21) in which they called on the European Commission to commit to reducing emissions by 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. Europe is the continent that is warming the most.

“There is no doubt, climate change is multiplying the risks we face,” said Ursula Woodburn, director of Corporate Leaders Group Europe, which organized the letter.

Stiell said the UN’s climate change arm is “trying to fulfill an ever-increasing mandate” to address climate change, but is at risk of being unable to do so due to a lack of money.

Countries that are among the top polluters, such as the US, Qatar and Korea, as well as many developing nations, are behind on mandatory contributions for the period 2010-2023, the latest UNFCCC accounts show. Funds to help poor countries participate in negotiations are also in shortfall.

Last year, the UN Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest fund dedicated to helping developing countries suffering from climate change, failed to attract as much funding as in previous funding rounds during a conference in Germany.

Developed and developing countries have also long been locked in disputes over the target of 100 billion euros in financing that richer countries should provide annually by 2020 to help poor countries reduce emissions and manage climate change.

Financing was a key point at this week’s Copenhagen meeting, the first meeting of ministers since the agreement for a transition away from fossil fuels agreed at COP28 in Dubai.

Mukhtar Babayev, president-designate of COP29, which will take place in Azerbaijan, told the meeting that finance “will be at the heart of climate diplomacy” this year.

COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber echoed this message. “Everything we do in the run-up to COP29 must be centered around finance, to make finance available, accessible and achievable,” he said.