Antonio Guterres told journalists, on the sidelines of a virtual "Climate Ambition Summit" to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, that a new report by climate finance experts estimated the promise would not be met this year. Nor had donors responded adequately to the Covid-19 financial crisis to provide cash-strapped developing countries with liquidity and debt relief, he noted. He also noted that only about 20% of the $79 billion in climate finance raised by wealthy governments in 2018 was earmarked for efforts to adapt to climate change, and said that share should be increased. 'All but silent'German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the summit her government would initiate an international process to raise more climate finance for the post-2020 period. France said it would maintain its level of climate finance in the coming years at about 6 billion euros, as in 2019, allocating about one-third of that to adaptation.

Source: Dhaka Tribune December 13, 2020 14:15 UTC