Funding for climate change in poor countries rose 21% in 2017

Funds from the developed world to curb climate change in poor countries increased by 21.5% in 2017 compared to the previous year to total 71,200 million dollars (64,138 million euros), still far from the 100,000 million (90,000 million euros) annually that are the target for 2020.

According to estimates published on Friday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), public funding represented 56.7 billion dollars (51 billion euros) in 2017, compared to 48.5 billion (43.7 billion euros) in 2016. Private contributions went from 10,100 to 14,500 million dollars (from 9 to 12.6 million euros).

Since 2013, the first year of the series, the increase in public funds was 44% until 2017 and 13.3% for private funds.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said in a statement that the target of $100 billion (€90 billion) a year by 2020 can be achieved, but “we need to urgently increase our efforts.”

In 2017, 73% of the money went to activities that mitigate climate change and 19% to adaptation actions.

Source: The Vanguard