In message to China, G7 urges others to help climate finance: ‘join us in this direction’
Franck Riester, the minister representing France on climate issues, said: “By making it clear that we were calling on other countries to contribute, we want China to join us in this direction.”
Under a UN climate treaty signed in 1992, only a small handful of high-income countries that dominated the global economy at the time were required to pay climate finance.
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China was not among them, but today is not only far wealthier, but is also the world’s largest polluter.
The G7 ministers – who represent Italy, the United States, the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Canada – recalled the goal of raising at least US$100 billion a year in climate finance.
According to the OECD, this goal was only likely met for the first time in 2022, two years late.
And this is far from the estimated US$2.4 trillion annually that developing countries – excluding China – will need to meet their climate and development needs.
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Nations meeting in Azerbaijan in November for the next UN climate talks are supposed to agree a new fundraising target.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell had urged the ministers on Monday to lean on their fellow finance ministers and treasurers to get them to see “a quantum leap in climate finance, as core business”.
“‘Challenging budget conditions’ is not an acceptable excuse for failing to deliver substantial new public climate finance pledges,” he said.