The objective is reached with 2 years of delay
The rich countries may have finally reached the target of mobilizing USD 100 billion a year in aid to the most vulnerable countries in the face of the climate crisis. At the end of 2022, estimates the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which keeps track of global flows of climate finance, “based on preliminary data and not yet verified … the goal should have already been achieved“.
A goal crossed with 2 years of delay. In 2009, during COP15 in Copenhagen, rich countries committed themselves to mobilize at least USD 100 billion a year by 2020 for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in favor of less developed countries. Since then, the pace of climate finance has struggled. During the Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021, attempts to make up for lost time produced some positive results, but not enough to reach the 100 billion threshold.
To whom do the new climate finance flows go?
“Climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries for climate action in developing countries reached $89.6 billion in 2021,” the OECD says. “This shows a positive trend, representing an increase of close to 8% compared to 2020, which is significantly higher than the average annual growth of 2.1% observed from 2018 to 2020”.
These figures are read with optimism by the OECD. The overall upward trend is valued as “positive” and, in 2021, had led to the assumption that 100 billion would be raised by 2023. “The preliminary data available to the OECD indicates that countries will probably have reached this target before 2023,” said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.
The trend of the destination of additional flows of climate finance is also important. Between 2016 and 2021, climate aid provided to middle-low and middle-high-income countries remained stable, while the share allocated to low-income countries increased from 4% in 2016 to 10% in 2021. The share of small island developing countries is also growing, from 2% in 2016 to 4% in 2021, and that destined for the least developed countries, from 12% in 2016 to 25% in 2020 (but with a decrease of 5 percentage points in 2021).
Precisely in favor of these less developed countries should be directed the funds that will be mobilized by the Mechanism Losses and Damages (Loss & Damage)the new fund against the impact of the climate crisis created at the Cop27 in Sharm last year, which should become operational in less than two weeks at the Cop28 in Dubai.
