Poor nations want monetary commitments from industrialized countries to help adapt to changing climate
BONN, Germany (Reuters) — Disputes over financing for poor nations hampered negotiations among almost 200 countries racing against the clock to seal an accord on combating global warming at a United Nations climate summit in Paris in December.
Some delegates said they feared a repeat of the 2009 summit in Copenhagen, when governments last tried, and failed, to agree on a deal. However, many others said they remained confident that a breakthrough could be reached at the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 meeting in Paris.
“We didn’t really enter in a negotiation. We can’t repeat that next time” in Paris, French climate envoy Laurence Tubiana said after an often fractious week-long meeting in Bonn last week, at which many nations repeated well-worn views.
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U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern predicted a deal would be reached in Paris despite scant progress in Bonn, the final meeting before Paris, on issues including climate finance.
Many nations want a deal, he said, but “you still have to hack our way through specific language, and it gets pretty sensitive and pretty contentious.”
Developing nations, which say their views are often ignored, said climate finance is the core issue, and all sides reported scant progress on the issue in Bonn.
“We are extremely worried about the pace,” said Amjad Abdulla, who speaks on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, which fears rising sea levels.
Poor nations want clear promises of rising contributions from industrialized nations beyond an existing goal of $100 billion by 2020 from public and private sources to help them curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to changes such as floods and droughts.
Rich nations led by the United States and the European Union want to make vaguer pledges beyond 2020 and for Paris to include new donors such as China, now outside the $100 billion plan, which last month pledged $3 billion for developing nations.
South African delegate Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko, who speaks on behalf of more than 130 developing nations and China, said developing countries need Paris to be a success.
