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How The US is Hindering Global Climate Financing

Published

4 years ago

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A worker drinks water to stay cool in the Indian city of Amritsar in July 2021. Experts say climate financing is an essential part of the effort to help countries develop without reliance on fossil fuels

Washington has not delivered on its promise to the Green Climate Fund, a tool to avert catastrophic climate change.

Los Angeles, California – India, one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, faces a big problem: High population growth is driving industrialisation and urbanisation, creating more demand for fossil fuels, especially in the housing and transportation sectors.

In May, India received $1.5bn in financing for electric vehicles from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a mechanism created by the United Nations in 2010 to help developing countries transition and adapt to the climate crisis. According to the GCF, the funding will help India avoid 9.5 million tonnes of emissions. Instead of meeting the increased transportation demand with fossil fuels, India will use that funding to jump directly to renewables.

“It’s not just about transition, it’s about leapfrogging into renewable energy systems,” Harjeet Singh, a senior advisor at the Climate Action Network International, told Al Jazeera.

Developing countries such as India are entering an era of rapid industrialisation at the precise moment when the world needs to stop burning fossil fuels. The GCF, which aims to curb emissions and avert runaway climate change, receives contributions from developed nations that have admitted responsibility for the climate crisis because of their historic and ongoing emissions.

The country with the most cumulative emissions to date is the United States. In 2014, the US acknowledged its role by pledging $3bn to the GCF – but it has failed to follow through, contributing only a third of that so far, Singh said.

Now, President Joe Biden is asking Congress for $1.6bn for the GCF, which would nearly meet that original goal. But experts say he faces a battle to get the funding approved, and in the meantime, the GCF is asking rich nations for additional pledges.

“The US is the largest historic emitter and bears the largest responsibility,” Singh said. “Until we make progress on climate finance, we will not be able to make progress on the mitigation targets that we need to meet to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Climate finance is absolutely fundamental.”

Adapting and transitioning

The GCF is the world’s largest multilateral climate fund, and under the 2015 Paris Agreement, it took on a central role in delivering finance to developing countries for adapting and transitioning to renewables.

“We cannot afford for every country to follow these industrialisation pathways that the developed world has done,” said Joe Thwaites, an international climate finance advocate at the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council.

Developing nations want to invest in renewables, and such projects can quickly pay for themselves, but it’s hard to make the investment up front. The GCF fronts the cost for the public and private sectors to prove it’s not risky to invest in renewables, Thwaites told Al Jazeera. The fund also helps countries adapt by making infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters.

The GCF is not the only mechanism for climate funding; in 2009, rich nations collectively pledged they would give $100bn annually in climate finance to developing countries by 2020 – but they have fallen short.

During the GCF’s startup phase in 2014, developed nations collectively pledged $10bn to the fund. Under the administration of former President Barack Obama, the US gave $1bn, but his successor, President Donald Trump, refused to contribute. Last year, Biden requested $1.2bn for the GCF, but failed to secure it amid Republican opposition.

Thwaites said the $1.6bn Biden is now requesting would be “incredibly welcome”, but getting it through Congress would be “tricky”.

“There is a significant portion of Congress that does not want to be associated with supporting any climate action,” he said. “Part of it is that [Republican representatives] are worried about primary [election] challenges.”

Democrats may be able to negotiate for GCF funding, but “it depends how much of a priority [they] make it”, Thwaites added.

Political pressure

Due to its $3bn pledge, the US carries significant weight on the GCF board, which decides which countries get funding. Board seats are allocated based on the amount of financial contribution, giving the US one seat out of 24 board members and one alternate seat out of 24 alternate members, said Liane Schalatek, who is part of the GCF observer network, an assortment of civil society groups that advocate on behalf of Indigenous and other communities.

Schalatek says the US has opposed GCF financing for projects in Cuba and Gaza “for largely domestic political reasons”. A project approved in 2019 reuses treated wastewater in Gaza for agriculture, in order to reduce pressure on an aquifer that is the region’s only freshwater resource. “All other countries’ board members supported it, but again, the [US] objection to the project was purely on that domestic political reasoning,” Schalatek told Al Jazeera.

If the US doesn’t meet its financial pledge, she said, “they probably should not continue to have that kind of double seat” on the GCF board.

Meanwhile, as it struggles to fund the GCF, the US is continuing its legacy of funding fossil fuel expansion. A Guardian investigation published in May found the US gives some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel subsidies per capita. It is also the leading source of potential new emissions, the report noted, with 22 “carbon bombs” that together have the potential to emit 140 billion tonnes of CO2 – nearly four times more than the entire world emits annually.

Low-income countries, on the other hand, will produce only around one percent of global emissions by 2035, according to the Center for Global Development. “The emissions are here, in rich countries, and that needs to get to zero; it’s as simple as that,” Ian Mitchell, a senior policy fellow at the centre, told Al Jazeera. “That’s where the action really needs to be to fight climate change.”

‘We have very little time’

By underfunding the GCF, the US is slowing the world’s climate transition, experts say. “[The GCF is] at a moment where they badly need that money to come in,” Thwaites said. “There is still a huge list of projects waiting for approval.”

Singh added: “If we continue to block actions, and if we do not allow institutions to really function, then we will not be able to solve the crisis. We have very little time. The [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] has been warning us.”

Last year, the global average temperature reached 1.1C above the pre-industrial baseline. If current trends continue, the GCF says, temperatures could exceed the 1.5C threshold in the next two decades.

Singh pointed to the 2021 heat dome that killed more than 600 people in the Canadian province of British Columbia, along with a heatwave this year in northern India that decimated crops. “We all are in the same storm, but we have different kinds of boats to weather that storm,” he said.

The British colonial legacy is what left India reliant on coal, Singh added: “We need to understand that rich countries – who have resources and have benefitted from industrialisation and colonialism – have a bigger responsibility and need to provide a helping hand.

“I don’t know why some countries can’t see the writing on the wall.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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Foreign

Israel’s War On Gaza: List of Key Events, Day 101

Published

3 years ago

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15th January 2024

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Israel's war on Gaza: List of key events, day 101 | Israel War on Gaza News | Al Jazeera

Dozens of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes in central and south Gaza as Red Sea tensions rise.

Here’s how things stand on Monday, January 15, 2024:

Latest updates and human impact

  • Israeli attacks continue unabated overnight killing and wounding dozens of civilians in central and southern Gaza. At least 22 people were killed and a large number injured as a result of Israeli forces targeting al-Thalatheni Street in the central Gaza Strip.
  • Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an antiship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea, which was shot down by a US fighter jet, announced US Central Command (CENTCOM) on X.
  • This was the first US-acknowledged Houthi attack since the US strikes on Yemen on Friday.
  • Hamas released a 37-second video showing three Israeli captives held in Gaza on Sunday, saying they would reveal the fate of the captives on Monday and urging the Israeli government to stop the offensive.
  • The Israeli military says it has shifted to a new phase of the war focused on the southern end of Gaza, where almost 2 million internally displaced Palestinians are running out of safe spaces to shelter.
  • The Gaza Ministry of Health has said almost 24,000 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive. More than 60,000 people have been wounded in 100 days of war.

Diplomacy

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
  • The White House said on Sunday that “it’s the right time” for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
  • Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) said in a statement on Sunday that one of the biggest obstacles to the timely delivery of sufficient aid to Gaza was Israeli inspection of the aid. The statement came after Israel blamed Cairo for the delay in aid delivery to Gaza during its defence at the ICJ.
  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted on X on Monday, calling for the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza on the 100th day since they were taken by Hamas. He did not mention the Palestinian casualties.
  • Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who described herself as a “friend of Israel” to the press, will travel to Jordan, Israel, the occupied Palestinian Territories and the United Arab Emirates this week, her office said on Monday.

West Bank raids and violence

  • Israeli forces arrested 25 students staging a sit-in in protest against high tuition fees at An-Najah University in Nablus. Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut reported that the protesting students received a text message from Israeli forces telling them to “surrender now”.
  • Israeli forces have reportedly raided the family home of Nael al-Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, in the village of Kobar, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
  • The Israeli army said on Friday that it killed three Palestinian men who infiltrated a West Bank settlement and fired upon soldiers.
  • The Israeli military killed two Palestinians after accusing them of ramming their car through a checkpoint near Hebron.
  • Local sources reported that Israeli forces bulldozed two Palestinian-owned houses during a Sunday midnight raid in the city of Qalqilya, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
  • Armed Israeli settlers broke into the village of Burin, south of Nablus, and attacked Palestinian residents’ houses and properties after midnight on Sunday, Wafa reported.
  • “Violent raids and arrests have become part of the fabric of daily life in the occupied West Bank,” Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said. At least 347 Palestinians have been killed and thousands have been arrested since October 7.

 

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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Hamas Says Will Kill Hostages if Israeli Attacks On Gaza Civilians Continue

Published

3 years ago

on

10th October 2023

By

Flames and smoke billow during Israeli attacks against Gaza on October 9, 2023

Human Rights Watch terms Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s call for a ‘complete siege’ on Gaza a ‘war crime’.

The Hamas movement has threatened to kill an Israeli hostage every time Israel bombs a Palestinian home without warning as Israel mobilised some 300,000 reservists and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, denying the enclave’s millions of residents access to food, water and fuel.

The warning from Hamas came on Monday as the death toll from the armed group’s surprise weekend attack climbed to 900 in Israel and revenge attacks by Israeli forces on the besieged Gaza Strip killed more than 700 people and left some 3,700 others wounded.

Residential apartment blocks, hospitals, schools and a mosque have been among the sites attacked by Israeli fighter jets, artillery and drones, according to media reports and witnesses.

Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida issued the threat to kill Israelis from the dozens held captive by the armed group. He said an Israeli hostage would be killed for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said more than 100 people were taken captive by Hamas during the deadly cross-border incursion over the weekend.

As Israeli forces conducted intense retaliatory attacks on Gaza on Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant drew international condemnation by announcing a total blockade of the densely populated and besieged enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people.

Gallant said Israel would impose a “complete siege” on Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply distressed” by the siege announcement and warned that Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation will now “only deteriorate exponentially”.

A mourner carries the body of Palestinian boy Saad Lubbad, who health officials said was killed in Israeli strikes, during his funeral in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 9, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
A mourner carries the body of Palestinian boy Saad Lubbad, who health officials said was killed in an Israeli attack, during his funeral in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 9, 2023 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

Guterres also said some 137,000 people were taking shelter with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at schools across Gaza.

UNRWA said on Tuesday that almost 190,000 people have been displaced in Gaza amid the Israeli attacks and the figure is expected to grow further as the violence intensifies.

Nearly half a million people have also not received food rations this week in Gaza as UN food distribution centres have been forced to remain closed amid the Israeli onslaught, UNRWA said.

Human Rights Watch said Israel’s total blockade on the necessities of life for everyday people in Gaza was a war crime.

“Defense Minister Gallant’s statements are abhorrent,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“Depriving the population in an occupied territory of food and electricity is collective punishment, which is a war crime, as is using starvation as a weapon of war. The International Criminal Court should take note of this call to commit a war crime,” he said.

Shakir also condemned the threat by Hamas to kill hostages, warning that such action was also a war crime.

“All hostages should be safely released to their families,” he said.

On the diplomatic front, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Hamas and Israel to immediately end violence and protect civilians, the Egyptian presidency said.

Erdogan urged Israel against “indiscriminately” attacking civilians and delivered measured criticism of Hamas, urging both sides to respect the “ethics” of war.

The United Kingdom, French, German, Italian and US governments issued a joint statement on Monday recognising the “legitimate aspirations” of the Palestinian people and supporting equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

INTERACTIVE_DEATH_TOLL_INJURED_ISRAEL_PALESTINE_OCT10_2023_0415
They said they would remain “united and coordinated” to ensure Israel can defend itself.

But the prospect that fighting could spread also alarmed the region and the world.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in response to at least three of its members being killed in Israeli shelling of Lebanon.

Israel said one of its deputy commanders was also killed in an earlier cross-border raid from Lebanon.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Western Leaders Accused of Hypocrisy Over Response To Palestine, Ukraine

Published

3 years ago

on

10th October 2023

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US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the US, September 20, 2023

Social media users, including journalists and observers, are calling out what they call a ‘double standard’.

After Saturday’s surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to the social media platform X to offer “condolences go out to everyone who lost relatives or close ones in the terrorist attack”.

He also stated, “Israel’s right to self-defence is unquestionable.”

Many world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, shared similar sentiments.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, “Israel has the right to defend itself – today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel.”

Accusations of Western ‘double standards’

Some social media users have criticised these statements, saying they highlight a double standard.

Ukraine’s right to defend itself is praised by most international leaders while Russia’s invasion is condemned, but commentators said the same cannot be said about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Aaron Bastani, a leftist British journalist, said on X that there’s a “clear double standard in endorsing terrorism against civilian targets in Ukraine … and condemning it by Palestinians”.

Many users said Western diplomats and media support the Ukrainians who defend their land, but label the Palestinians fighting against Israel as “terrorists”.

https://twitter.com/KhaledBeydoun/status/1710787817415082349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710787817415082349%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine

An illustration of a woman’s face, in which one eye is closed beside a Palestinian flag, and one eye open beside a Ukrainian flag, has been regularly shared as a symbol of the West’s alleged double standards in how the two conflicts are viewed.

https://twitter.com/OnlinePalEng/status/1710994682883273172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710994682883273172%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine

Clips also emerged on social media from a CNN interview with Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, in which he posed the rhetorical question, “Why does the United States support Ukraine in fighting occupation – while here they support the occupier, who continues to occupy us?”

It is not the first time Western nations have been accused of double standards in their stance on the Ukraine war.

Earlier in the year, Amnesty International published a report highlighting the West’s “double standards” on global human rights.

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general, told Al Jazeera at the time that the occupation of Palestinian territory was a “particularly important one”.

“Without making any comparison between Russia’s aggression and Israel … it is clear the Palestinian people are under a regime of oppression – a regime of occupation and a regime of apartheid,” Callamard told Al Jazeera.

Over the last three days, X users recirculated earlier statements calling out what they called Western hypocrisy, sharing video by the Irish lawmaker Richard Boyd Barrett from March 2022 in which he berated the Irish government’s double standards regarding Ukraine and Palestine:

“You’re happy to use the most strong and robust language to describe the crimes against humanity of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, but you will not use the same strength of language when it comes to describing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.”

Barrett on Sunday again called out what he described as “shocking double standards of Western leaders supporting Ukraine resistance but condemning Palestinian[s].”

Meanwhile, others warned against comparing conflicts.

https://twitter.com/denfordauthor/status/1710993737738768607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710993737738768607%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine

And some cautioned that Hamas and the Palestinians should not be seen as one and the same.

Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, who plays for Arsenal, posted on Instagram, stating he “stands with Israel”.

Zinchenko has been a vocal supporter of his home country in its ongoing defence against Russia, and he participated in a Game4Ukraine charity match in London earlier this year to raise money for Ukraine.

After online backlash, with some questioning an alleged double standard in his support of Israel, the footballer removed the post and switched his social media account to private.

Several people claimed that Zinchenko’s football club, in not responding to his comments, was guilty of hypocrisy after they had distanced themselves from former player Mesut Ozil’s comments in 2019 over alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in China.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
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