Climate financing – “Bad record for Belgium”

Climate financing – “Bad record for Belgium”

A workshop organised by CNCD 11.11.11 (a group of NGOs supporting cooperation and development) is focussing on the issue of climate financing on Tuesday, before the COP21 climate summit scheduled for November 30th-December 11th in Paris. “It is not too late for mankind to mitigate climate change,” says climatologist Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele, who is taking part. On the issue of climate financing – getting rich countries to pledge financial support for poor countries – CNCD 11.11.11 experts reckon Belgium has not been doing very well up to now.

Climate financing is a crucial aspect of the COP21 agreement, according to experts. “Emissions reduction and climate financing work together: the more we achieve in fighting global warming, the less it will cost us, and vice versa,” according to CNCD 11.11.11.

The 2009 Copenhagen Conference led to an agreement on early funding of 30 billion dollars from 2010 to 2012, and guaranteed a total of 100 billion dollars a year up to 2020. Within this framework, Belgium was committed to paying 150 million euros in early funding between 2010 and 2012. Approximately 58 million euros had not been paid by the end of 2012 when accounts were reviewed, regrets CNCD 11.11.11.

The organisation is asking Belgium “to explain what commitments each region and the federal government are making” in the wake of 2020. “Disagreement on burden sharing between communities is slowing down Belgium’s contribution,” complains Nicolas Van Nuffel, the NGO group’s attorney. He is pleading for “a stop to subsidies for fossil fuels, and an effort to find new sources of financing such as air transport taxation.”

(Source: Belga)


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