The topic of how to finance climate resilience and mitigation in countries most impacted by the crisis continues to build momentum worldwide, with several announcements this week alone.
Days after negotiations reached a standstill in Bonn over whether emission reduction talks at COP28 would include finance, world leaders met in Paris to specifically discuss providing vulnerable countries access to significant financial support.
According to the International Energy Agency, financing for clean energy in the Global South must increase seven-fold within a decade if global warming is to be capped at tolerable levels. While proposals range from reforming our international monetary system, offering debt forgiveness, and relying on an influx of private investment, many are calling for the wealthiest polluters to foot the bill.
One group of more than 100 economists are insisting on a 1.5% tax on the fortunes of the world’s wealthiest people to pay for climate-related damage, since those parties are responsible for most of the carbon emissions. According to the Guardian:
“Recent research suggests if the combined emissions of wealthy countries was counted against the destruction that the climate crisis is wreaking in poorer countries, the rich would owe the poor $6tn a year in ‘reparations’ for the damage caused.“
This conversation is only going to get more heated as extreme weather events and the demand for a truly just transition escalate.
Opportunities for Connection
Meanwhile, we’re excited to uplift the work of groups making important progress on securing climate funds for communities that need it most, including: 1) the Climate Finance Access Network which is building a cohort of climate finance experts in small island nations across the Pacific, 2) the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, a coalition of 600+ youth from more than 60 countries taking concrete action to address loss and damage, and 3) Coast Funds, an Indigenous-led conservation finance org that provides funds directly to First Nations protecting local ecosystems.
Please share your thoughts with us and other opportunities for collaboration in the comments!