Canada Commits $400 Million to Climate Change Financing
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Canada has announced that it will invest $400 million in 2010 towards
helping developing countries adapt to and fight climate change.
Environment Minister Jim Prentice made the announcement on the eve of
the G8/G20 summits in Ontario, billing it as Canada’s fair share of
fast-start financing promised under the Copenhagen Accord.
At the
UN climate change conference in Copenhagen last December developed
countries agreed to work towards $30 billion in ‘Fast Start’ finance
from 2010-2012 for developing countries. They also committed to a goal
of $100 billion a year by 2020 for developing countries.
“This is
good news,” says Carol Thiessen, public policy advisor for the
Foodgrains Bank. “It’s what we and other Canadian aid agencies have been
asking for as Canada’s fair share of the $30 billion fund.”
The
government has stressed that this is new and additional money, but at
least some of the $400 million will be funded from the 2010 increase in
the aid budget, and thus could be seen as diverting money from other
vital areas for developing countries, such as health and education. The
rest will be sourced from general government revenues.
The money
will focus on three priorities:
- efforts to address
deforestation and enhance sustainable agriculture;
- adaptation
for the poorest and most vulnerable countries; and
- clean
energy development and delivery
The Foodgrains Bank welcomes
the government’s support for sustainable agriculture, while stressing
that this money should be directed to small-scale farmers in
particular. More than 75% of the world’s poorest people live in rural
areas, and most of these are small-scale farmers. They are most at risk
of increased hunger from climate change.
“We recommend Canada
support funding for efforts, such as conservation agriculture, that help
farmers cope with droughts and floods while also increasing food
production,” says Thiessen. “This is a win-win-win approach: it helps
slow climate change, promotes adaptation, and increases food security.”
The
government is not yet saying who will administer the money. Most aid
agencies have called for funding mechanisms based within the United
Nations, where developing countries traditionally have a stronger voice.
There is also no word yet on whether the money will be given as grants,
or as a mix of loans and grants.
The $400 million includes the
$18.5
million that Canada committed to the Global Environment Facility
earlier this spring .
Back to New Posts