Urgent climate finance pleas at COP31 face a non-urgent response
URGENT pleas for cash from poor nations most exposed to the kind of climate-related disasters that have marked this year risk meeting a sluggish response at Turkiye’s COP31 talks as Western governments put national security and living costs first.
At the COP31 climate summit in Turkey, poorer nations facing climate-related disasters are pleading for urgent financial support. However, their pleas are facing a slow response from Western governments, who are focusing on national security and living costs instead of climate action. The rich countries agreed to triple climate funding for poorer countries to $300 billion per year by 2035, but have failed to meet this target.
The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have increased inflationary pressures and strained budgets. Small island nations, in particular, are struggling to recover from climate disasters, as their own budgets have shrunk and technical hurdles from lenders have slowed down the process. Some smaller nations have taken innovative steps, such as pledging their own funds or committing to protect carbon sinks.
However, the implementation of existing pledges rather than securing new targets is a focus at COP31, with Australia's lead negotiator calling for faster, simpler, and fairer finance.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
