With countries racing to reach a new global climate deal by December, financial support for climate action in developing countries has emerged as an essential building block for a successful outcome. A Pembina Institute report released today outlines Canada's "fair share" of the climate financing needed.
"Canada has a narrow window of opportunity to play a constructive role in this year's pivotal UN climate negotiations," said Clare Demerse, Associate Director of Pembina's Climate Change Program and the report's author. "Committing to provide our share of the financing that poorer countries need would be a huge step in the right direction."
Some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people are already facing impacts from global warming, even though they have done little to cause the problem. And poorer countries need help to pursue a development path with lower greenhouse gas emissions. Estimates from UN bodies and others show that tens of billions of dollars per year in new public finance will be required to meet these needs.
Formulas that share out countries' responsibility show that Canada should provide about 3 to 4 per cent of the required financing. Multiplying that percentage by assessments of the total needed in developing countries produces an estimate of $2.2B to C$5.7B per year as Canada's fair share. The mid-point of that range, $4B/year, is less than the cost of a 1 per cent cut to the GST.
"Although many countries have made innovative proposals to generate the financing needed, Canada has not yet come to the table with ideas and commitments of its own," said Demerse. "This is particularly unfortunate when the government's own internal briefing notes acknowledge the scale and urgency of adaptation needs in developing countries."
A briefing note from the Department of Foreign Affairs obtained through an Access to Information request acknowledges that the costs of adaptation "are estimated to be extremely high," that the UN's existing adaptation funds "are widely criticised as being under-funded" and that "addressing adaptation now is more affordable than the costs of inaction."
Adaptation financing would allow communities to, for example, build "climate proof" infrastructure to withstand more violent storms. An example of financial support for reducing emissions would be funding the costs of a switch from generating electricity from coal to using wind power.
As a "downpayment" on the global climate agreement expected in Copenhagen this December, Pembina's report recommends that Canada provide at least $80M towards urgent adaptation needs identified by the world's least developed countries.
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For more information contact:
Clare Demerse
Associate Director, Climate Change Program, The Pembina Institute
Tel. 613-762-7449
The report and background materials are available here.
The Department of Foreign Affairs briefing note is available here.
This report was prepared thanks to support from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation's Global Fellowship program.
