UN Secretary of the UN Climate Change, Simon Stiell, said on Thursday (6) that “climate financing is not charity” and that although one country can retreat, “others are already positioning themselves to take its place and reap the huge rewards ”.
Upon assuming the American presidency in January, Donald Trump ordered the departure of the United States – for the second time – from the Paris Agreement. The climate agreement is one of the leading international treaties in the area, having been signed in 2015. Nearly 200 countries pledged to maintain global warming below 2 degrees Celsius and, ideally, below 1.5 degrees.
“And let’s be clear, climate financing is not charity. It is crucial to protecting the global supply chains from spiral climate disasters that are feeding inflationary pressures. It is one of the many reasons why climate action is increasingly a question on cooking tables. Just consider the increase in food prices, which have the fingerprints of droughts, full, and forest fires caused by the weather everywhere. Above all, climate financing saves lives, on a large scale, ”he said.
Although he has not quoted the United States directly, he said that “one country can retreat, but others are already positioning themselves to take its place and harvest the huge rewards.” As an example, he cited “stronger economic growth, more jobs, less pollution and much lower health, safer and more affordable energy.”
Stiell argued that it is possible to see important and relevant actions being taken, regardless of the rhetoric surrounding those who want to retreat. In his assessment, the transition to clean energy “is now unstoppable” because of the “economic opportunity it presents”.
The executive secretary participated in a lecture on the environment and climate financing at the Rio Branco Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which forms Brazilian diplomats in Brasilia. In November this year, Brazil will host the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 30) in Belém, Pará.
He spoke alongside the president of COP 30, ambassador André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, and the director general of the Rio Branco Institute, Mitzi Gurgel Valente da Costa Ambassador.
Corrêa do Lago stressed that climate policies not only involve countries and their federal governments, but also other actors, such as civil society, local governments and entrepreneurs.
According to the UN chief for climate change, every $ 1 invested in adaptation is worth $ 6 in losses of loss and damage avoided.
COP29 participating countries, held in November last year in Baku, Azerbaijan, agreed with an annual financial goal of $ 300 billion by 2035 to help the poorest countries deal with the impacts of climate change. The value was criticized by many developing countries as widely insufficient.
In speech to Brazilian diplomats, Stiell recalled the existence of this inequality.
“It would be negligent for me not to highlight that this expansion is moving at very different speeds: massive capital influxes in the main economies, boosting economic growth, but many smaller economies are not yet able to fully share expansion and its vast benefits.” , he said.
He also considered that the $ 300 billion “are a base line, not a final line.” “It is essential that more financial flows are directed to developing countries, as they fight colossal costs of debt service and very high capital costs.”
“Ten years after Paris, we will not have fulfilled all our commitments, but that is exactly why we need to analyze how we are involving our highest level participants.”
This content was originally published in ‘Funding is not charity’, says UN head for climate change on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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