Climate finance
Rich nations meet $100bn climate finance goal – two years late
Developed countries gave nearly $116 billion in climate finance in 2022, but experts and campaigners questioned how the target was met
US government backs the carbon credit industry’s push to fix itself
The Biden administration throws its weight behind the industry’s attempts to boost integrity in the beleaguered market
In Malawi, dubious cyclone aid highlights need for loss and damage fund
Malawi’s Red Cross built 45 homes funded by a suspected Nigerian fraudster, which residents of Mchenga village say are unsafe
Paris summit unlocks cash for clean cooking in Africa, side-stepping concerns over gas
The gathering raised $2.2 billion for clean cooking in Africa, where four in five people still use polluting energy like charcoal – but some say LPG should not be promoted as a transition fuel
UN agrees carbon market safeguards to tackle green land grabs
Local communities will be able to officially challenge UN-registered carbon credit projects before and after they are up and running
Seismic shifts are underway to find finance for loss and damage
The new UN fund can channel taxes and other innovative ways of raising money to pay for climate loss and damage – we just have to decide to apply them
Loss and damage board speeds up work to allow countries direct access to funds
At its first meeting, the fund’s board decided to fast-track the selection of its host country so money can be disbursed as fast as possible to disaster-hit people
How to fix the finance flows that are pushing our planet to the brink
Commercial banks are financing a huge amount of fossil-fuel and industrial agriculture activities in the Global South – they must turn off the tap
G7 offers tepid response to appeal for “bolder” climate action
Climate and energy ministers from G7 nations agreed a coal exit deadline – with a caveat, but made little progress on other fossil fuels and finance
Southern Africa drought flags dilemma for loss and damage fund
Scientists blame the current drought on El Niño – which could exclude those affected from receiving aid for climate-change damage
Limiting frontline voices in the Loss and Damage Fund is a recipe for disaster
Representatives of groups hardest-hit by the climate crisis say restrictions on their participation at the fund’s first board meeting set a worrying precedent
Tensions rise over who will contribute to new climate finance goal
Germany wants all high-emitters, especially among G20 countries, to pitch in. But China and Saudi Arabia say the responsibility lies with developed nations
Will blossom of reform bear fruit? Spring Meetings leave too much to do
Changes are afoot at the IMF and World Bank – but debt-squeezed developing nations need far faster access to more finance for climate action
Global billionaires tax to fight climate change, hunger rises up political agenda
Brazil and France want the G20 to get behind a global minimum tax on billionaires’ wealth, also backed by IMF chief
As donors dither, Indigenous funds seek to decolonise green finance
Tired of waiting for donor dollars for climate and nature protection to trickle down, Indigenous rights groups are creating new funds to do things differently
Fossil fuel debts are illegitimate and must be cancelled
The Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF are a chance to transform outstanding debts for fossil fuel projects into grants for renewable energy systems
World Bank climate funding greens African hotels while fishermen sink
Climate Home reveals that the World Bank Group has counted support for luxury hotels as climate finance, which experts say fails the most vulnerable
SBTi needs tighter rules on companies’ indirect emissions
Businesses are not required to cut all their value chain emissions in line with a 1.5C warming limit – and allowing offsetting could weaken efforts further
Zambia’s fossil-fuel subsidy cuts help climate and kids – but taxi drivers suffer
Under pressure from the IMF, the government has redirected subsidies into education, welfare and debt reduction, leaving fuel-heavy sectors with higher costs
Expectations mount as loss and damage fund staggers to its feet
Demand for finance to pay for the aftermath of climate impacts is rocketing – but progress on getting a new UN loss and damage fund up and running is slow