According to Bloomberg, rich countries have broken their promise to save our planet from pollution they made in 2009. They committed to mobilizing $100 billion a year to help poor countries tackle climate change.
The report made by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (ODEC) revealed that rich countries had done little progress. They managed to raise as much as $79.6 billion only once back in 2019. Before then, developed countries contributed more modest financial aid. Analysts reckon that the lack of financial support provided and mobilized by rich countries has a devastating impact on developing nations in their struggle against climate change. Developing nations say that funding is key for them if they want to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal. The Paris Agreement targets limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.
The United State delivered a painful blow to the Paris accord. Being the richest polluter on the planet, the county decided to leave the Paris Agreement. However, when Joe Biden became president, the US again joined the deal. The US government is now under pressure to find more cash because other members of the agreement consider the financing from the US to be insufficient. As a result, 70 emerging markets, including China and India, have failed to come up with more ambitious emissions targets for 2030.
Chatham House analysts have estimated that the lack of an effective plan to reduce harmful emissions poses existential risks. The main one is rising global temperatures. It is now particularly difficult to keep the global average temperature near 1.5 degrees Celsius. The consequences of climate change, including natural disasters, climate hazards, mass migration, and food crises, are likely to show up in the next 20-30 years.
