US, Japan miss UN climate donation deadline

The US and Japan are among at least 12 countries that have yet to provide donations for a new UN fund intended to help developing nations tackle climate change. The […]

The US and Japan are among at least 12 countries that have yet to provide donations for a new UN fund intended to help developing nations tackle climate change.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) said donors have pledged almost $4 billion – but the figure is only 42% of the total that was promised late last year. It falls short of the 50% goal they had set for 30th April.

Contributing governments had agreed to yesterday’s deadline so the UN could start allocating resources to low-emission and climate resilient projects before the conference in Paris later this year.

The US had pledged $3 billion (£2bn), Japan $1.5 billion (£1bn), Canada $277 million (£181m) and Australia $187 million (£122m) but they have yet to make the donations.

Héla Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the Fund said: “The Green Climate Fund is grateful to all governments who have been able to conclude their contribution agreements on time. We now call upon all other governments to urgently finalise their agreements to ensure the Fund can start allocating its resources as planned.”

The UK and Germany signed deals covering their full amounts of $1.2 billion (£0.8bn) and $1 billion (£0.65bn) along with Sweden, France, Norway and the Netherlands.

Latest Podcast