Opinion: Four arguments for climate finance
Making the case for funding climate adaptation and mitigation efforts one last time at Oxfam.
Personally, I’ve always been convinced of the case for climate finance, but I know many people, including many key decision-makers, still have their doubts. In the last several weeks, climate finance issues received an unprecedented amount of air time as the Trump Administration walked back from the United States’ climate change commitments, including our pledge to the Green Climate Fund. I’ve spent the last four years working on international climate finance at Oxfam (and even longer on climate change issues), so as I wrap up this chapter in my career with Oxfam and get ready to take up a new position with a new organization it’s worth taking a few minutes to make the case for climate finance (one more time).
The justice case
People’s lives are on the line because of climate change. Right now climate change is deepening the Horn of Africa’s hunger crisis where 13 million people are going hungry and Somalia is on the brink of famine. Frequently it is people that have done the least to cause climate change that bear the brunt of its negative impacts. The richest 10 percent of people in the world are responsible for 50 percent of global emissions. We all feel the heat of climate change, but not as much as the poorest amongst us do. Thus, climate finance, to help address the negative effects of global warming, is of the right thing to do and we – developed countries, especially – must take responsibility for the harm our emissions cause.
CIFOR