Rich nations failed to meet $100B climate finance goal on time: OECD

Wealthy countries met their target of providing $100 billion in annual climate aid to poorer countries for the first time in 2022 though two years later than promised, the OECD said Wednesday, News.Az reports citing AFP.

The failure to raise the money on time has eroded trust in climate negotiations and the OECD report comes as nations race to set a more ambitious goal by November.

In 2009, developed nations promised to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help low-income countries invest in clean energy and cope with the worsening impacts of climate change.

More than a decade later this target was finally met for the first time in 2022 with $115.9 billion raised, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.

"This achievement occurs two years later than the original 2020 target year," said the OECD, which tracks official figures on climate finance pledges.

Climate finance can come from governments in the form of bilateral aid, multinational development lenders like the World Bank, or the private sector.

Most of the $100 billion disbursed in 2022 went to climate action that limits the release of heat-trapped greenhouse gases, the OECD said, mainly in clean energy and transport improvements.

The $100 billion target is nowhere near what experts say developing nations will need for renewable energy and adaptation measures like coastal defences against rising seas.

A panel convened by the UN estimates these countries -- excluding China -- will need $2.4 trillion a year by 2030 to meet their climate and development needs.

Many developing economies least to blame for the greenhouse gases that stoke global warming are among the most exposed to the costly and destructive effects of worsening weather extremes.

News.Az