Climate finance: The real test

DEVELOPING NATIONS MUST STRENGTHEN POLICIES; GLOBAL NORTH MUST HONOUR ITS COMMITMENTS

- ARUNABHA GHOSH ARJUN DUTT

THE UPCOMING 30TH Conference of the Parties (COP30) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is being billed as the “implementation COP”.

The leadership has indicated that the focus will be on putting existing climate agreements into practice, not on setting new goals. For developing countries, implementation will remain a distant goal without adequate and affordable climate finance. Smaller domestic financial systems (relative to GDP) and higher costs of capital in these countries already constrain their ability to mobilise resources for climate action. Further, elevated sovereign debt can crowd out public spending on development, including climate action. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on education or health.

While COP29 in Baku outlined only broad commitments, it did launch the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T’—a process to identify how to deliver $1.3 trillion per year in international climate finance to developing countries by 2035. Acredibleroadmap is critical to create certainty over the long-term availability of support, particularly with key developed countries announcing plans to review multilateral commitments and reduce foreign aid budgets earlier this year.

Drawing on a recent study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), here is a six-point framework to help climate negotiators to cut through uncertainty and deliver real change at COP30.