Money given by wealthy nations to help the developing world combat climate change should not be administered by the World Bank, says the UK-based international development agency Christian Aid.
The NGO says it should instead be handled by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a body on which developing nations would have a greater say in how it is spent.
This week’s G8 summit sees the official launch of ‘Climate Investment Funds’ aimed at supporting low-carbon technologies in poor countries, preventing deforestation and helping vulnerable communities adapt to global warming.
Some $5 billion has already been promised by the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. Further pledges are expected at the G8, with all the money going to the World Bank to distribute.
However Christian Aid argues that placing these funds with the World Bank is a bad precedent for future efforts to fight climate change.
“Industrialised countries have an obligation to pay for the damage caused by global warming and this money could have been an important demonstration of how they intend to meet that duty,” says Christian Aid’s senior climate change policy adviser Eliot Whittington.
“Developing countries have been very clear about this: Money for tackling climate change should be administered by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). That is the body where the international community comes together to tackle climate change.
“Developing countries are in the majority there, and would have a proper say in how the money that has been pledged is used. They want to see that the G8 – the wealthiest and most carbon profligate countries in the world – are serious about tackling climate change.
“Giving the money to the World Bank sends all the wrong signals. It has a terrible record of imposing damaging economic policies on poor countries and is backing a large portfolio of greenhouse gas emitting projects around the world.’
Christian Aid argues that industrialised nations that have grown rich through carbon emitting technologies must help finance the global transition to a low carbon economy. This includes providing financial help to poor countries to enable them to cope with the impact of climate change, and access sustainable energy sources.
The money, it adds, must be additional to funds given as overseas development aid.
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