|
||
TWN Info Service on Climate
Change (May08/02) Dear friends and colleagues, Please
find below a further article published by The Guardian ( With
best wishes
A
senior diplomat for the world's poorer countries today accused Bernarditas Muller, the coordinator for the G77 and China group of countries in key climate change negotiations told the Guardian she was "surprised and concerned" that Britain was not pressing for billions of dollars of proposed climate aid funds to go through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the legally binding global agreement signed by more than 180 countries. It is expected that $5-10bn of aid will be pledged by G8 countries in July for poor countries to address climate change. Speaking in a personal capacity, Muller said she feared this would dwarf UN funds and divert money from the UNFCC. But
Muller said that going through the World Bank would be divisive. "The
bank has a very mixed reputation among developing countries. Why does
She also said that limited resources available for climate change adaptation could be fragmented if the World Bank administered the funds, reducing focus and the size of funds available for projects. Lastly, she feared that the bank would favour some countries above others. "Is this going to be a way through which influence or pressure will be put on developing countries?" she asked. Developing
countries have also reacted angrily to revelations in the Guardian that
"These
state that as historical polluters, and due to their higher technological
and economic capabilities, developed countries should shoulder the main
burden for tackling climate change", said Martin Khor, director
of the Third World Network of groups based in It
also emerged today that In a report, the committee writes: "We are concerned that any further proliferation of funds could distract World Bank shareholders from the key challenges ahead with regard to its main institutions. We recommend DfID [the Department for International Development] resist proposals to set up any further funds or where it supports such proposals – for example on climate change – provide us in advance with the rationale for its support." The MPs added: "We are sceptical that creating a new trust fund, in addition to the dozen or so that already exist in the bank for such work, is the best way forward for the £800m of DfID climate change financing." (This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Tuesday May 20 2008. It was last updated at 16:44 on May 20 2008.)
|