Nearly a decade after former President Barack Obama pledged $3 billion to help poorer countries on the front lines of climate change, the Biden administration is starting to make good on that commitment. But the U.S. is also falling further behind on President Joe Biden’s own international climate aid promises. Biden announced a $1 billion addition to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund this week, doubling total U.S. contributions. But the infusion falls far short of Biden’s 2021 pledge to give $11.4 billion a year in climate aid to developing nations by 2024, writes POLITICO’s E&E News reporter Sara Schonhardt. While climate advocates say the funding will help restore U.S. credibility and might encourage other countries to boost their contributions, demand for clean energy and climate adaptation projects is swiftly outpacing available financing. And with Republicans in control of the House, large infusions of cash to meet that need are unlikely. In fact, Biden had to get creative to circumvent recalcitrant lawmakers and make this week’s contribution. The administration drew the funding from the State Department’s economic support fund, which is used to help promote economic or political stability in other countries. Future funding will probably need to go through the appropriations process, a messy and politically charged process at best. Ecosystem of aid
The Green Climate Fund is just one part of an increasingly complex landscape of funding for poorer countries that have contributed the least to global warming but stand to bear the brunt of its impacts. Countries agreed last year to create a dedicated fund to compensate nations for damages incurred from rising seas, stronger storms and vanishing food systems. The specifics of the fund are still being negotiated — meaning there is no money to draw on yet — and the United States’ derelict track record has cast doubt on America’s willingness to fund such programs. That means paying into the Green Climate Fund remains politically important, Clemence Landers, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, told Sara. Unlike commercial loans, the U.N. fund provides money at below-market interest rates, making it an important resource for countries with major debt burdens. Still, some critics say the fund has struggled to get money out the door, so it may not be the best delivery method. That’s just one more issue plaguing island nations and other vulnerable populations.
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