Climate finance: preparations for UN climate talks kick off
3/6/2024: Signatories of the Paris Agreement pledged to come up with a new finance goal before 2025. And the pressure to up the target is growing. Negotiators are laying the groundwork for a new climate finance goal ahead of the COP 29 summit later this year.
Source: DW
‘Non-market’ solutions to deforestation need more support
31/5/2024: A new report calls for a shift in emphasis away from relying on carbon markets for forest protection, and toward a lesser-known provision of the Paris Climate Agreement that calls for “integrated, holistic and balanced non-market approaches.” These could include financing for indigenous groups, payment for ecosystem services, and debt relief.
Source: Mongabay
Rich nations meet $100bn climate finance goal – two years late
29/5/2024: According to new data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, developed countries provided $115.9 billion in climate finance for low income countries in 2022, up from $89.6 billion in 2021. Climate finance analysts criticised the way the OECD calculates the figures.
Source: Climate Home News
UNDP calls for reform to support small island states
27/5/2024: A new policy brief by the UN Development Programme highlights a pressing need to massively invest in climate change adaptation in Small Island Developing States. These islands are acutely vulnerable to floods, sea level rise, hurricanes and other climate emergencies.
Source: UN Development Programme
Nations agree landmark treaty on genetic resources, protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights
24/5/2024: Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization have agreed to a groundbreaking new treaty addressing genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. Patent applications must disclose the country of origin and the Indigenous Peoples or local community that provided relevant knowledge.
Source: UN News
Governments far from meeting biodiversity funding promise for low income countries
22/5/2024: A coalition of environmental organizations is calling on governments in the developed world to make good on their commitment to deliver at least $20 billion a year in nature finance to the developing world by 2025 to protect biodiversity globally.
Source: Greenpeace
How to stop Western theft of developing countries’ IP wealth
8/5/2024: Developing countries have struggled to stop industrialized nations from co-opting and patenting products based on the knowledge and culture of local peoples. A new UN pact, to be facilitated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at a conference later this month, could help them stop so-called biopiracy.
Source: DW
Chinese fishing fleets in Indian Ocean accused of abuses
5/5/2024: A recent investigation has revealed evidence that China's distant-water fishing fleet commits environmental and labour abuses in the southwest Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa. The report by the Environmental Justice Foundation also finds that entering a fishing zone reserved for local fishers is another common illegal behaviour.
Source: DW
Tensions rise over new climate finance goal
25/4/2024: Updating the $100 billion annual climate finance promise for poorer countries is the most important decision expected to be taken at this year’s climate summit. Negotiators remain at odds over how large the overall sum should be, and whether the list of donor countries should include China.
Source: Climate Home News
UK ‘double counting’ humanitarian aid as climate finance
16/4/2024: The UK government has reclassified nearly £500m of humanitarian aid for nations including Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia as “climate finance”. The chair of the Least Developed Countries group at UN climate talks says the UK’s actions are a “clear deviation from the path to climate justice”.
Source: Carbon Brief