EU must face climate debt

As EU leaders met this week in Brussels, ActionAid demanded that European countries provided €42 billion a year to tackle climate change in the developing world.

This week's European Summit represented the last chance for EU leaders to deliver additional climate finance before crucial talks in Copenhagen begin in December.

Step up, pay up!

ActionAid estimates that €132 billion per year of international public finance is needed by 2020. The EU’s suggestion of €22-50 billion falls well short of this figure. If a fair deal is to be reached in Copenhagen, the EU must be ready to meet its responsibility for emissions and pay its fair share, which amounts to €42 billion

Tom Sharman, ActionAid’s Climate Justice Co-ordinator: “Developing countries are reeling from the effects of a climate crisis that they did not cause. If the EU is to be a true climate champion, it will have to go much further to enable a just outcome in Copenhagen".

Developed countries, as the world’s biggest polluters, have a historical responsibility for climate change but are looking for any opportunity to avoid paying. The developing world is waiting for the EU to act.

“In Bangladesh alone, we’re losing 17% of our land because the sea water level is rising,” says Farah Kabir, ActionAid’s country director in Bangladesh.

“We estimate that 90 million people, equivalent to the population of Germany, will become climate refugees. We need a deal now!”

Fund the fight, don’t fix the figures!

At a time when European leaders are looking to trim their budgets, it is vital that new funding committed to fight climate change is in addition to existing Overseas Development Aid (ODA) commitments, such as the long-standing 0.7 target.

“ODA should not be replaced with funding for climate justice. It’s about compensation, not taking development assistance and funding climate change,” adds Kabir. You have to act now, internationally and locally. It’s not about tomorrow it’s about yesterday and today. So we are calling on the EU to step up and pay up!

ActionAid estimates that by 2020, developing countries will need at least €132 billion a year to tackle climate change (€64 billion for adaptation; €48 billion for clean technology, €18 billion for deforestation and €5 billion specifically for agriculture.)

These funds will enable developing countries to adapt, reduce emissions and chart low-emission pathways out of poverty.