Significant pledge may be on its way
International relief and development organization Oxfam America called on the Obama Administration today to commit its fair share to the Green Climate Fund before the next UN climate negotiations meeting in Lima, Peru this December. Multiple media reports quote the Peruvian Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez as saying that Secretary Kerry told him the US is considering making a “significant” pledge to the Green Climate Fund in November.
“The United States has a moral responsibility and economic self-interest in helping get the Green Climate Fund up and running,” said Heather Coleman, climate program manager for Oxfam America. “So far the Fund has just $2.3 billion pledged of the $15 billion it needs by December. As one of the largest economies and emitters of carbon in the world the US’s fair share would be an initial pledge of $4.8 billion.”
The Green Climate Fund is being set up as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to mobilize financing to help developing countries cope with the impacts of the changing climate. It is meant to be the primary channel for delivering the $100 billion annual commitment made by developed countries at the Climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009.
A two-day “pledging conference” has been announced for November 19-20th in Berlin, less than two weeks before the UN climate negotiations reconvene in Lima on December 1st. Countries are being asked to make their pledges to the Green Climate Fund public in time for this pledging conference so that the negotiations in Lima can focus on other pressing issues.
“We fully expect the Obama administration to make a meaningful pledge and protect America’s role as a leader in the effort to fight climate change,” said Coleman. “Delivering on the promises made by all countries in Copenhagen to get significant finance flowing to help developing countries prepare for and mitigate climate change is a key pillar in a final deal that enables developed and developing countries alike to do their part.”
