UN urges more for climate change
Print Edition
THE United Nations yesterday urged rich nations to ramp up financial aid to help poor countries shore up their defenses against climate change.
Finance is a hot topic at the annual round of UN climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco — the first since the world’s nations adopted a hard-fought agreement last year to rein in global warming from fossil fuels.
Back in 2009, rich nations pledged to mobilize US$100 billion a year from 2020 for climate aid to the developing world.
But poor nations are insisting on a clear roadmap for reaching the goal, and on a bigger focus on money for climate adaptation, which entails building resilience against the impact of global warming. So far, though, adaptation has received less than a fifth of the finance made available.
“The cost for developing countries of adaptation alone could range from US$140 billion to US$300 billion by 2030, and from US$280 billion to US$550 billion by 2050 — up to five times higher than previously estimated,” UN Environment said in a statement.
“The world has promised to help developing countries adapt to the disruption and hardship caused by changes such as altered rainfall patterns and rising sea levels,” the agency’s head, Erik Solheim, said. “We must keep that promise.”
Money for adaptation could go toward building dykes and homes elevated higher than projected sea-level rise, putting in place weather warning systems, improving access to drinking water, and making available seeds for climate resistant crops.
The Paris Agreement set an objective of limiting average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by cutting greenhouse gases.
The UN says on current emissions curbing pledges, the world is headed for warming of 2.9-3.4 degrees already this century.
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