The European Commission welcomes the commitment of the European Union to scaling up public funding for climate financing in the years ahead, as confirmed yesterday by the Ministers of the EU Member States meeting in the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).
The EU and its Member States provided €14.5 billion in funding in 2014 to help the poorest and most vulnerable countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the consequences of climate change.
This is a further significant increase which shows Europe’s determination to contribute its fair share of the USD 100 billion goal set in 2009 for annual finance flows from developed to developing countries by 2020.
Commissioner Moscovici, said: “The EU has today confirmed its position as the global leader in climate finance. Ahead of the crucial rendez-vous that is COP21, we are delivering significant financial support for developing countries and will continue to do so. We have also set out clear principles today to maximise the effectiveness of climate finance: everyone paying their share in line with their evolving capabilities; achieving the full involvement of the private sector by ensuring the right enabling environments; and targeting funds to the most vulnerable countries.”
Commissioner Cañete, said: “With only a few weeks before COP21 in Paris, today’s news is most welcome. And the message is very clear: the EU is ready to continue to do its part as the world’s biggest donor of climate finance, and we are committed to scaling up our support. As the OECD report showed very recently, the world is on track to deliver the USD 100 billion goal. This puts us in good stead for the last weeks of intense political engagement in order to seal an ambitious deal in Paris. It is now time to translate the political will we have seen recently into concrete negotiation results.“
