The UN climate chief, Simon Stiell has said that the World Bank must take a “quantum leap” to provide new finance to tackle the climate crisis or face “climate-driven economic catastrophe” that would bring all the world’s economies to a halt.
Stiell warned that there were just two years left to draw up an international plan for the climate that would cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5C above preindustrial levels.
“There’s no room now for half measures,” he warned, referring to the global heat that has surpassed records for the past 10 months. “Averting a climate-driven economic catastrophe is core business.”
But Stiell held out a promise of global economic renewal, for the developed and developing world, if countries shift to a low-carbon economy.
“Bold new national climate plans will be a jobs jackpot and economic springboard, to boost countries up that global ladder of living standards,” he said. “[They will] increase food security and lessen hunger. Cutting fossil fuel pollution will mean better health and huge savings, for governments and households alike.”
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Governments are expected to meet next week for the annual spring meetings of the World Bank, with its fellow taxpayer-funded development banks from around the world and the International Monetary Fund. These institutions will play a key role in determining whether developing countries gain access to the finance they need to cut emissions and adapt to the effect of the climate crisis.
“For many countries, they will only be able to implement strong new climate plans if we see a quantum leap in climate finance this year,” Stiell said.
Stiell called for reform at the development banks that would enable the governments that fund them to provide much more climate finance to the developing world. This would involve greater pledges of overseas aid and debt relief for those labouring under the heaviest burdens, but most importantly changes to the banks’ lending practices that would give poor countries greater access to finance.
Leaders of developing countries, including Mia Mottley of Barbados and William Ruto of Kenya, have said that such reforms could unlock hundreds of billions of dollars of finance. At present, lending practices are rooted in conservative estimates of developing countries’ economic capabilities and are not geared towards tackling the climate crisis.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
