In the Media
Developing countries’ designs for Green Climate Fund
September 14, 2011
IPS news
South Africa, which will host the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) Nov. 28-Dec. 9, has convened meetings with African ministers to cement the continent’s demands ahead of the meeting.
On the minds of many will be the future design of the Green Climate Fund, which was created at COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark as a way to finance mitigation, adaptation, technology and capacity building in response to climate change.
At the subsequent COP 16 meeting in Cancun, Mexico countries pledged 30 billion dollars in funding for 2010-2012, which would then increase to more than three times that amount annually from 2020 with funding from possible sources including international taxes on air flight, trade or financial transactions. However, according to figures presented at the annual international civil society meeting, the CIVICUS World Assembly this week in Montreal, the U.N. has only received 12 billion dollars thus far.
In an effort to develop a civil society position on the fund ahead of COP 17, World Assembly delegates from East and Southern Africa as well as Small Island states met and identified key components that they said would have to be included in the fund’s architecture to allow their countries to benefit. The list of demands include balancing funding for mitigation and adaptation, making the fund easier to access for civil society and governments, as well as including civil society representation on the fund’s board.
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Keywords: Africa, COP, COP 15, COP 16, COP 17, Durban, GCF, Green Climate Fund, South Africa