As Trump upends aid and markets, who will pay for green development in Global South?
Ahead of key donor meetings, experts say a combination of debt relief, private investment and innovative sources of finance could help fill the gap
Finance
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Loss and damage fund to hand out $250 million in initial phase
The fund’s board has agreed a plan for the start-up phase of the UN mechanism to help developing nations tackle the consequences of climate disasters
Climate non-profits anticipate fight with Trump over tax status
US-based climate change campaign groups fear that President Donald Trump will try to use the US tax authority to damage them financially
New global fund for forests is a bold experiment in conservation finance
If successfully implemented, the sovereign-backed investment fund – championed by Brazil – could generate far more money for tropical forests than traditional donor models
Loss and damage fund proposes helping governments first, local communities later
Campaigners have welcomed the proposed priorities for the loss and damage fund but say grants for communities should not be deferred
Finance for renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa is defying the odds
Most countries in the region finally have operating wind or solar projects, despite huge political and economic challenges – perseverance is needed
African banks back oil export pipeline despite climate commitments
Lenders including Afreximbank are backing Uganda’s EACOP project, while publicly talking up their support for a just energy transition.
G7 offers tepid response to appeal for “bolder” climate action
Climate and energy ministers from G7 nations agreed a coal exit deadline – with a caveat, but made little progress on other fossil fuels and finance
Southern Africa drought flags dilemma for loss and damage fund
Scientists blame the current drought on El Niño – which could exclude those affected from receiving aid for climate-change damage
Limiting frontline voices in the Loss and Damage Fund is a recipe for disaster
Representatives of groups hardest-hit by the climate crisis say restrictions on their participation at the fund’s first board meeting set a worrying precedent
Tensions rise over who will contribute to new climate finance goal
Germany wants all high-emitters, especially among G20 countries, to pitch in. But China and Saudi Arabia say the responsibility lies with developed nations
Will blossom of reform bear fruit? Spring Meetings leave too much to do
Changes are afoot at the IMF and World Bank – but debt-squeezed developing nations need far faster access to more finance for climate action
Global billionaires tax to fight climate change, hunger rises up political agenda
Brazil and France want the G20 to get behind a global minimum tax on billionaires’ wealth, also backed by IMF chief
As donors dither, Indigenous funds seek to decolonise green finance
Tired of waiting for donor dollars for climate and nature protection to trickle down, Indigenous rights groups are creating new funds to do things differently
Fossil fuel debts are illegitimate and must be cancelled
The Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF are a chance to transform outstanding debts for fossil fuel projects into grants for renewable energy systems
World Bank climate funding greens African hotels while fishermen sink
Climate Home reveals that the World Bank Group has counted support for luxury hotels as climate finance, which experts say fails the most vulnerable
Expectations mount as loss and damage fund staggers to its feet
Demand for finance to pay for the aftermath of climate impacts is rocketing – but progress on getting a new UN loss and damage fund up and running is slow
Climate leaders, oil bosses pitch alternate energy-transition realities
As climate officials prepare the next steps in a globally agreed shift away from fossil fuels, oil and gas executives return fire
African dismay at decision to host loss and damage advice hub in Geneva
The UN agencies that will run the Santiago Network recommended it should be based in Nairobi but governments have instead chosen the world’s third-most expensive city
Shipping sector pushes to keep emissions-tax cash for itself
The industry and governments’ maritime ministries want a proposed levy on emissions spent on cleaning up shipping, not used for wider climate goals like loss and damage
In Somalia, Green Climate Fund tests new approach for left-out communities
GCF head Mafalda Duarte promises a more proactive plan to bring cash to the most vulnerable countries struggling with climate impacts
Is water provision in drought-hit Zambia climate ‘loss and damage’ or adaptation?
Farmers need crop irrigation to help beat drought – but it’s unclear if that would qualify for new loss and damage funding
UN climate fund axes Nicaragua forest project over human rights concerns
In its first such move, the Green Climate Fund has pulled out of a project after developers failed to address environmental and social compliance issues
Aid watchdog questions UK’s climate finance accounting
Britain has changed how it calculates its international climate aid, boosting its progress towards a 2026 goal without giving vulnerable countries more money
Countries draw battle lines for talks on new climate finance goal
Developed and developing countries are gearing up for heated discussions over the size of the goal and who should provide money for it
Loss and damage must be a focus of IPCC’s next reports
Without proper interventions anchored on the latest and best available science, even more people would be vulnerable to disastrous impacts of tremendous economic and non-economic costs.
Blended finance can perpetuate climate colonialism
‘Blended finance’ took centre stage at Cop28, with the Green Climate Fund among its supporters. But there are still major problems with the concept that must be addressed before considering any further expansion.
Rich nations miss loss and damage fund deadline
Their failure to agree risks delaying help for victims of climate disasters in developing countries
For Cop29 to succeed, rich nations must get their parliaments to agree more finance now
Rich nations always say they need their parliaments approval for climate finance at Cops – now is the time to start
Junk offset sellers push to enter new UN carbon market
Renewable energy schemes make up four-fifths of Kyoto-era projects hoping to keep selling offsets under Article 6, sparking concerns over the credibility of the new market.
High stakes for climate finance in 2024
Setting finance goals without the revenues and systems to deliver on them is a recipe for disappointment – this year it must be different.