Aid to help low income countries overcome climate change is ‘inadequate’, says Oxfam

A recent report by Oxfam has found that aid to low income countries to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions is lagging behind the targets set by the Paris Agreement.

Oxfam has called the levels of funding going to low income countries ‘inadequate’.

Oxfam’s report follows a recent announcement that a further $4.1 billion will be provided to developing countries to help them meet their environmental goals.

The historic 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change agreed a target of $100 billion worth of financing for low income countries.

Although taxpayer-funder finance has increased since 2015 and the private sector has introduced new initiatives, the funding raised is likely to still miss the goal of $100 billion by 2020 to low income countries.

Oxfam’s report found that between 2015-2016 funding from higher income countries was only half of the amount agreed in the Paris Agreement: $48 billion. The report also claims funding announced by donor countries involves projects that are not directly related to climate change.

Of the $48 billion donated only $16-$20 billion of this fell under the strict definition of climate finance. Climate finance is defined as assistance directed towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to climate change.

Tracy Carty, senior climate-change policy adviser at Oxfam said:

“There’s no reason why rules for calculating climate [finance] should be more lax than those for [general overseas] aid. Governments have to agree new accounting standards for climate finance under the Paris agreement. This is an opportunity to agree fair and robust standards”

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Image credit: Oxfam