UN chief: Rich nations must honour climate fund commitments
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has urged developed countries to keep their promise of raising $100 billion to fund the battle against climate change.
Guterres addressed the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The climate finance goal was set in 2009 at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The commitment aimed to mobilise $100 billion per year for developing countries by 2020 to alleviate the damage caused by the rise in temperatures.
The $100 billion commitment, which is yet to be met, will expire in 2025.
Guterres urged rich countries to honour their commitments.
"I have put forward a Climate Solidarity Pact in which developed countries provide financial and technical support to help emerging economies – in Africa and beyond – to promote an equitable and just transition to renewable energy.
"And I have presented an Acceleration Agenda to boost these efforts – with developed countries committing to reach net zero emissions as close as possible to 2040 and developing countries as close as possible to 2050.
"Developed countries must also finally keep their promises to developing countries: by meeting the $100 billion goal, doubling adaptation finance, replenishing the Green Climate Fund, and operationalizing the loss and damage fund this year.
"As a matter of justice, Africa must be considered a priority in all these efforts, "said Guterres.
Guterres also warned that any reforms to multilateral institutions should be based on the UN Charter and international law.
"For multilateral institutions to remain truly universal, they must reform to reflect today’s power and economic realities.
"In the absence of such reform, fragmentation is inevitable.
"We cannot afford a world with a divided global economy and financial system with diverging strategies on technology including artificial intelligence and with conflicting security frameworks."
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