2014

When the necessary climate change financing is secured on a global scale (in our dreams) the paid Climate Contributions must be spent wisely and fair … but how and decided by whom? Well, the incriminated nations that burned fossil fuels excessively for decades knowing that it destroys the climate worldwide can’t be legitimate decision-making participants in the creation of a Global Climate Fund. Only Contribution Free countries can (including those who have paid their climate debt). The opposite seems to be the case in the everlasting and fruitless United Nations COP process.

In ClimatePositions 65 out of 145 countries were Contribution Free in 2010 (see the ranking ‘her’). The Climate Contributions (debt) of 29 out of 145 countries was less than $184 per capita. Combined the two country groups represent:

• 78% of the global population
• 42% of the global CO2 Emissions
• 10% of the global Climate Contributions

Imagine a kick start with the 29 countries paying their (relatively small) climate debt to a wise and fair Global Climate Fund: Then 5.2 billion people would benefit from $275 billion of project financing. Below are listed some issues to discuss regarding the allocation guidelines:

• Compensation for damages and losses due to climate change
• Building climate change resilience
• Funding emergency aid due to extreme climate events
• Developing renewable energy project
• Compensation for phasing out polluting and damaging activities
• Supporting rainforest conservation
• Increasing biodiversity
• Ocean conservation projects
• Fossil fuel renunciation compensation

This setup would leave the remaining 51 worst performing countries, representing 22% of the global population and 58% of the CO2 Emissions, with a truly bad case. Their average CO2 Emissions are even larger today than in the 1990s¹ and their present total climate funding amounts to only $22 billion or 0.8% of their total climate debt in ClimatePositions 2010 (read about the funding ‘here‘).

¹ An average country in this group of countries emitted 10.9 tons of CO2 per capita in 1990s and 12.2 tons in 2011.

Image by Claus Andersen, 2014 (photo by ‘ggallice‘ from ‘fotopedia‘).