Rich countries have finally hit their $100B US climate finance goal, Guilbeault says

Canada announced Wednesday that wealthy countries have finally reached their goal of providing $100 billion US to help poorer countries both combat and adapt to climate change — two years behind schedule.

Prior to the announcement, the international community wasn't sure the world's richest nations had kept their promise.

But numbers verified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and released Wednesday confirm wealthy nations have achieved and surpassed that goal.

The report shows that climate finance reached $115.9 billion US in 2022, up from $89.6 billion US in 2021.

Since 2021, Canada and Germany have taken joint responsibility for administering the climate finance fund and making sure their wealthier peers pay up.

Guilbeault told CBC News he and his German counterpart Jennifer Morgan have spent the last several years pushing other countries to do their part.

«I think this work that Canada and Germany has been doing has been instrumental in where we are now,» Guilbeault said.

«I think that pressure wasn't there before.… That started happening in 2021 and maybe it should have happened sooner.»

In 2009, the world's wealthiest nations committed at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen to providing $100 billion US annually in climate financing. The money is intended to go toward projects that cut emissions as well as those that help mitigate the effects of climate change and extreme weather, such as seawalls.

The Copenhagen agreement was based on the recognition that the developed world is mainly responsible for producing climate-changing emissions that now disproportionately affect poorer countries.

The European Union and the 23 countries at COP15 committed to delivering on the money commitment by 2020.