The 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference will provide a major opportunity for the international community to identify further tangible steps to adapt to the challenges posed by rising global temperatures. Climate finance will be a cornerstone of the implementation of the agreed outcomes of the Conference, and a coherent, robust and transparent financial structure will be central to achieving its agreed objectives.
The original commitment by donors to reach 0.7 per cent of gross national income for development finance should be preserved as a separate financial goal to meet development needs, while additional funds to deal with climate change and adaptation will be required to deal with global warming. The danger of diverting financial aid for the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change at the expense of better health care, education and infrastructure in developing countries would be a step backwards in helping them reach development goals such as improved health care and education, and would run counter to poverty reduction and growth commitments in the Sustainable Development Goals.
There is a need for an open and in-depth debate under the auspices of the United Nations to clarify whether additional finance is additional to prior commitments, additional to existing ODA disbursements, or something in between. Precedence for such a discussion can be found in the negotiations on the original 0.7 per cent target that took place in UNCTAD in the 1960s and led to the adoption in 1970 of the target set in General Assembly resolution 2626 (XXV). Although the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, through its technical work, is trying to encourage countries to reach an agreement on the definition of additionality, a broader effort is needed to energise the debate and make this a central issue of development finance.