The first blog-worthy opening move has come from the EU – on Tuesday 30th November the EU launched a progress report on fast start finance (FSF) designed to help developing nations fight climate change and develop sustainably. Superbadger thinks this is a good start, and hopefully this will spur on other countries to make similar moves.
If only...
The report itself, though, seems a little vague on its figures. The EU has said it has channelled 2.2 million euros this year into this fast start scheme, but less than 50% of this amount is being allocated to helping developing countries adapt to the devastating effects of climate change. One thing it has made clear is that much of the money will be coming from existing aid budgets, which means that the poorest communities will actually not benefit from this scheme as much as they should. Especially since the EU is proposing that some of this money come in the form of loans rather than grants, which is not great for the poorest countries who are not in a position to pay it back.
However , it’s great to see the UK and EU take a leadership stance on climate finance, but we can’t be leaders if no one is following – so hopefully we’ll see more of a domino effect over the next few days and see the EU develop their proposals in the months ahead.
In short? Good but not good enough!
