US dollars and other world currencies lie in a charity receptacle at Pearson international airport in Toronto, Ontario June 13, 2018. — Reuters pic
As of 2018, the last year for which data is available, money from all sources earmarked for climate-related projects totalled US$78.9 billion, up about 11 per cent from the year before, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a detailed report, its third since 2015. “Climate finance is a lifeline for communities facing record heatwaves, terrifying storms and devastating floods,” said Tracy Carty, co-author of an in-depth “shadow report” on climate finance compiled by experts at global NGO Oxfam.
Less contested but even more controversial is the form that aid has taken, and the countries to which has been allocated. Some 14 per cent went to nations in the Least Developed Countries category, and two per cent to developing small island nations, whose very existence is threatened by rising seas, according to the OECD.The OECD report does not cover domestic public climate finance, or so-called “South-South” assistance between developing countries.