COP28: United States commits $3 billion to Green Climate Fund

The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, announced on Saturday, December 2, at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a contribution of 3 billion dollars (2.75 billion euros) to the Green Climate Fund, making up for years of non-contribution from the richest country in the world.

“I am proud to announce a new commitment of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund,” said Kamala Harris, dispatched to the 28th UN climate change conference in place of President Joe Biden. Washington’s last contribution was made by Barack Obama in 2014 (for $3 billion), while many other countries have renewed their contributions in the meantime.

“We are at a pivotal moment. Our collective action or, worse, our inaction, will have consequences for billions of people for decades,” declared the vice-president, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates the same day.

A long-awaited signal

This announcement, even if it is conditional on the approval of the American Congress, was a long-awaited signal to hope to ease tensions between the North and the South on international finance, which constitute a major node in the UN negotiations on the fight against climate change.

If the promise is kept, the United States would become the largest contributor to the fund in absolute value, with $6 billion. But the United Kingdom (5.1 billion, according to the NGO Natural Resources Defense Council), Germany (4.9 billion) and France (4.6 billion) contribute much more, in proportion to their population.

Born in 2010, the Green Climate Fund is the largest in operation today. It finances solar panels in Pakistan as well as agricultural projects in the Philippines or any other related initiatives aimed at helping developing countries to do without fossil fuels, or to adapt to a more dangerous climate.

According to the fund, more than $4 billion has been disbursed to date and $13.5 billion committed. But his ambitions are greater: he wants to revive his capital, currently at 17 billion dollars, to bring it to 50 billion by 2030.

Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, it has played a key role in fulfilling part of the commitment by developed countries to provide $100 billion per year in climate aid.