PARIS, May 29, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Wealthy countries met their target of
providing $100 billion in annual climate aid to poorer countries for the
first time in 2022 though two years later than promised, the OECD said
Wednesday.

The failure to raise the money on time has eroded trust in climate
negotiations and the OECD report comes as nations race to set a more
ambitious goal by November.

In 2009, developed nations promised to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to
help low-income countries invest in clean energy and cope with the worsening
impacts of climate change.

More than a decade later this target was finally met for the first time in
2022 with $115.9 billion raised, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development said.

"This achievement occurs two years later than the original 2020 target year,"
said the OECD, which tracks official figures on climate finance pledges.

Climate finance can come from governments in the form of bilateral aid,
multinational development lenders like the World Bank, or the private sector.

Most of the $100 billion disbursed in 2022 went to climate action that limits
the release of heat-trapped greenhouse gases, the OECD said, mainly in clean
energy and transport improvements.

The $100 billion target is nowhere near what experts say developing nations
will need for renewable energy and adaptation measures like coastal defences
against rising seas.

A panel convened by the UN estimates these countries -- excluding China --
will need $2.4 trillion a year by 2030 to meet their climate and development
needs.

Many developing economies least to blame for the greenhouse gases that stoke
global warming are among the most exposed to the costly and destructive
effects of worsening weather extremes.

- 'Creative accounting' -

Climate finance is a thorny issue at the annual UN climate talks and
negotiators have been working this year to try and set a new goal to replace
and go beyond the $100 billion target.

The hosts of this year's COP29 in gas-rich Azerbaijan have made the matter a
priority and hope to have an ambitious agreement inked during the summit in
November.

Negotiators meet next week in Bonn for crucial midyear talks where sticking
points over this new financial target will be thrashed out.

Some parties want China and other major emerging economies to chip in, while
there is disagreement over how much should be raised, how the money is
managed, and who is eligible for it.
Some developing nations want their climate action to be contingent on
receiving financial aid.

India, for example, has proposed that developed countries provide $1 trillion
in climate finance every year from 2025 -- 10 times the current target.

Donors have also been accused of repackaging existing aid pledges as climate
finance and making the money largely available as loans instead of
unconditional grants.

Climate activist Harjeet Singh said the process had been "riddled with
ambiguity and inadequacies".

"This isn't the time for creative accounting or fiscal loopholes. Rich
countries urgently need to step up, clear these smokescreens, and deliver
real, substantial financial support," he said.