Report: U.S. & Other Rich Countries Delete Call for Climate Aid | Democracy Now!
▻http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/31/headlines/report_us_rich_countries_delete_call_for_climate_aid
Poorer countries have increasingly called for climate aid as they face the worst impacts from the emissions of the world’s wealthiest. A recent U.N. report cites a World Bank study calling on rich countries to provide climate aid of as much $100 billion per year. But according to The New York Times, the $100 billion figure was removed from an executive summary of the report to be read by the “world’s top political leaders.” The edit was reportedly made at the request of “several rich countries, including the United States.” Poor countries are expected to seek firm commitments on climate aid at a summit in New York this fall.
Panel’s Warning on Climate Risk: Worst Is Yet to Come - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/science/earth/panels-warning-on-climate-risk-worst-is-yet-to-come.html
The poorest people in the world, who have had virtually nothing to do with causing global warming, will be high on the list of victims as climatic disruptions intensify, the report said. It cited a World Bank estimate that poor countries need as much as $100 billion a year to try to offset the effects of climate change; they are now getting, at best, a few billion dollars a year in such aid from rich countries.
The $100 billion figure, though included in the 2,500-page main report, was removed from a 48-page executive summary to be read by the world’s top political leaders. It was among the most significant changes made as the summary underwent final review during a dayslong editing session in Yokohama.
The edit came after several rich countries, including the United States, raised questions about the language, according to several people who were in the room at the time but did not wish to be identified because the negotiations are private.
The language is contentious because poor countries are expected to renew their demand for aid this September in New York at a summit meeting of world leaders, who will attempt to make headway on a new treaty to limit greenhouse gases.
Many rich countries argue that $100 billion a year is an unrealistic demand; it would essentially require them to double their budgets for foreign aid, at a time of economic distress at home. That argument has fed a rising sense of outrage among the leaders of poor countries, who feel their people are paying the price for decades of profligate Western consumption.