Pay up: UN climate summit leader says funding key to success
The British official who will preside over an upcoming U.N. climate summit says he’s losing sleep over how to get long-promised funding for poorer nations
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The British official who will preside over an upcoming U.N. climate summit said Tuesday that he's losing sleep over how to get long-promised funding for poorer nations to switch to cleaner energy and cope with the worst impacts of climate change.
Alok Sharma president of the 26th United Nations Change Climate Change Conference, used a speech in Paris to jolt richer nations into action in the last weeks before the Oct. 31-Nov. 12 event in Glasgow Scotland
Sharma said that securing the previously promised annual package of climate change funding for poorer nations “is vital to the success of the summit.”
“Without finance, tackling climate change is well-nigh impossible. So developed countries must deliver on the $100 billion a year promised to developing nations. This is a totemic figure. A matter of trust. And trust is a hard-won and fragile commodity in climate negotiations," he said.
“Thinking about this does keep me awake at night," he added.
Sharma, who was the U.K.'s secretary of state for business before he stepped down to oversee the COP26 conference, also put pressure on the Group of 20 nations that together account for the bulk of global wealth and trade and around 80% of polluting emissions that contribute to global warming.
In July, G-20 nations all agreed that before the COP26 meeting, they would each lay out “ambitious” targets to reduce emissions by 2030, Sharma said. But some haven’t yet done so and “must deliver,” he said.
“I say to those G-20 leaders: They simply must step up ahead of COP26," he said.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-change