World’s Poor Nations Need $500 Billion of Climate Cash Per Year

(Bloomberg) -- The world’s developing countries need around $500 billion of climate finance per year, according to a new report from the United Nations, which will pave the way for tough talks at this year’s COP29 climate summit.

The UN’s Standing Committee on Finance evaluated the costs required by 98 developing countries to enact their climate plans and found that — from as far back as 2015 — as much as $6.9 trillion in total may be needed by 2030, according to a report.

The findings set the stage for the COP29 climate summit taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan in November, which has the key ambition of setting a new post-2025 goal for how much climate finance will be channeled to the world’s developing countries to both help them transition and adapt to climate change. Rich countries have been criticized for failing to live up to a $100 billion-per-year goal by 2020, something they only met two years after the deadline.

The UN report gives one of the most comprehensive evaluations of what is needed by the developing world, yet it provides only a starting point for talks. Countries will need to not only work out how much public finance should be pledged, but also agree on a far bigger number — possibly in the trillions — that needs to be mobilized from the private sector. A big fight is also expected over whether China — a rapidly growing economy and now the world’s highest emitter — should also have to contribute. 

There will also likely be countries continuing to push for even more funding than the UN identifies. India is leading calls for public finance alone to account for around $1 trillion, which developed countries and groups, like the European Union, have said is unreachable.

Harjeet Singh, climate activist and global engagement director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said the latest UN report “falls short of capturing the full financial realities that developing countries face.”

“The transition to renewable energy and the rising costs of climate impacts now require trillions annually,” he said, noting “a just transition away from fossil fuels” for developing countries will require “economic diversification” and the creation of green jobs at an “unprecedented level.”

This year’s climate talks are taking place against a less-than-ideal backdrop. COP29 will kick off just days after the US presidential election, which could add some distraction to the task at hand. Wars in Ukraine and Gaza have raised tensions among world leaders, and budgets in developed countries have been worn away by the Covid crisis and high inflation.

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