1 June 2009
A new report by aid agency Tearfund says finance for climate adaptation is crucial to the success of a strong and fair Copenhagen climate deal.
What the World is Waiting for: Action on Adaptation, warns that rich countries will be responsible for unjustly penalising the world's poorest and most vulnerable people at December’s make or break climate summit, if funding for adaptation remains vague and inadequate.
Tearfund’s Director of Advocacy Paul Cook said, `Developing countries have received less than 10 per cent of the money promised by rich countries to help them adapt to climate change. This failure is fostering deep distrust between countries and is seriously undermining the current negotiations on a global climate deal.'
The report argues that the immediate needs of developing countries for adaptation funding must be met urgently. Developed countries must send a strong signal to developing countries that finance for adaptation will be additional to Official Development Assistance (ODA) and allay fears that climate finance will be taken from existing ODA - a real fear with current economic constraints.
Tearfund believes that total finance provided by developed countries for adaptation in developing countries should be at least US50-86 billion per year.
There will be no fair deal in Copenhagen this December if a clear framework which fast-tracks action on adaptation is not agreed, the aid agency says.
`With 94 per cent of disaster-related deaths occurring in developing countries, the outlook for poor countries is bleak,' Cook continues.
`There is already a massive gap between funding that’s available and what is needed. This gap must be filled so that finance for adaptation in the near term can be substantially increased so that funding for adaptation under a new post 2012 climate agreement matches the scale of need.'
In addition to funding issues, Action on Adaptation highlights that planning for adaptation should focus on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people. It asserts adaptation must become a core component of all national development plans, not viewed as a separate ‘sector'.
`Countries must unite to agree on action for adaptation and put an end to the stalling and delaying tactics. Transparent frameworks and funding for adaptation must be legally enshrined in the Copenhagen agreement,' Cook concluded.