Author: Rhea Mehta (PBEC intern OCT-DEC 2022)
Published by PBEC: December 2022
Our PBEC intern Rhea Mehta recently wrote the following piece on financing issues faced by low and middle income Countries in tackling the climate emergency we all face as part of her degree studies. This area of interest was influenced in part by her experiences through her engagement with PBEC and its members, in this last quarter of 2022. We are privileged and pleased to share her work with our members accordingly.
“Ahead of the COP27 that was held in Sharm El- Sheikh, Egypt this year, the question of “climate finance” has become a heated debate once again. This year, a resolution that was reached in the COP was the setting up of a “loss and damage” fund that would reimburse countries for the disastrous effects/vulnerabilities of climate change that they experience. This may seem like a stellar breakthrough in the two week climate conference. However, there has been no agreement on the estimated value of this fund or who exactly the contributors will be. At the COP15 in 2009, developed nations had jointly agreed to contribute $100 Billion to climate finance by 2020. This goal was also not met as only $79.9 Billion had been contributed to climate finance, as tracked until 2019.[1] Therefore, this vague resolution of this year’s COP also does not come as a surprise.
Developed countries have the funding and infrastructure to carry out large scale production activities which contribute majorly to the global Greenhouse Gas emissions. For instance, the United States produces 14.67 metric tonnes per capita of CO2 emissions.[2] The impact of these emissions, however, which contribute to climate change and global warming are not faced by developed countries like the United States due to their sophisticated infrastructure and the availability of funding for it.”… Click here to read her full length paper.
[1] Chowdhury, A., & Jomo, K. S. (2022, February 15). The climate finance conundrum – development. SpringerLink. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41301-022-00329-0
[2] CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita). Data. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?view=map