Obama offers $100bn developing world climate funding by 2020

18 December 2009

US president Barack Obama has offered to $100bn of funding to help developing nations mitigate the impact of climate change, if it is part of a wider accord. Speaking in Copenhagen on the final day of the climate change talks, Obama pledged fast-start funding that will ramp up to $10bn by 2012, but said that the larger figure of $100bn by 2020 was contingent on the establishment of a broader framework of cooperation among the international community.

Obama conceded that the US, the world’s largest economy, was the world’s second-largest emitter, and that as such it was fitting that ‘America bears our share of responsibility in addressing climate change’, and that ‘we intend to meet that responsibility.’

‘That is why we have renewed our leadership within international climate negotiations, and worked with other nations to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. And that is why we have taken bold action at home – by making historic investments in renewable energy; by putting our people to work increasing efficiency in our homes and buildings; and by pursuing comprehensive legislation to transform to a clean energy economy,’ he said.

The US president also pledged to cut emissions by 17 per cent by 2020, and 80 per cent by 2050, although there was reportedly some disappointment amongst attendees that the pledges were not more ambitious.

He said that the agreement as it stood was ‘not perfect’, but implied that an unsatisfying decision was better than no decision, as it could provide a foundation for further developments. Obama went on to criticise the arguments that had broken out at the summit between developing countries and wealthier nations.

‘There are those developing countries that want aid with no strings attached, and who think that the most advanced nations should pay a higher price. And there are those advanced nations who think that developing countries cannot absorb this assistance, or that the world’s fastest-growing emitters should bear a greater share of the burden,’ said Obama.

He also called for transparency and accountability between nations on climate change issues to ensure that promised commitments were being met, saying that without such accountability, ‘any agreement would be empty words on a page.’

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: energy efficiency, policy

This story was published on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 5:29 pm and is filed under North America, energy efficiency, policy. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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