Rich nations fulfilled their commitment to provide $100 billion in annual climate aid to developing nations for the first time in 2022, albeit two years later than anticipated, the OECD announced on Wednesday.
The OECD report comes as countries scramble to set a more aggressive objective by November, and the inability to raise the money on time has damaged confidence in climate negotiations.
Developed countries pledged in 2009 to raise $100 billion annually by 2020 to support low-income nations’ investments in renewable energy and assist them deal with the increasingly severe effects of climate change.
With $115.9 billion raised in 2022—more than ten years later—this goal was at last reached, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
“This achievement occurs two years later than the original 2020 target year,” said the OECD, which tracks official figures on climate finance pledges.
Governments can provide climate money through the private sector, global development lenders like the World Bank, or bilateral aid.
According to the OECD, the majority of the $100 billion allocated in 2022—primarily for renewable energy and transportation improvements—went toward climate action that restricts the release of heat-trapped greenhouse gases.
The $100 billion goal is in no way close to what experts predict developing countries would require for adaptation strategies like building coastal defenses against sea level rise and renewable energy.
According to a UN-convened council, these nations, excluding China, will require $2.4 trillion annually by 2030 to meet their needs for development and climate change.
The majority of developing economies most vulnerable to the expensive and damaging consequences of intensifying weather extremes are also those least responsible for the greenhouse emissions that fuel global warming.
