World Resources Institute (WRI) Report

Subject – Environment

Context – There has been a decline in climate finance during COVID-19: WRI report

Concept –

Climate finance being allotted by various developing countries for action on climate change has shown a decrease before and during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a recent study done by global research non-profit organisation World Resources Institute (WRI) has shown.
The study found that countries were forced to cut funding for many climate-related sectors to free up money for addressing pandemic-related expenditures and revenue losses.
The study found that in several countries, budget cuts have targeted climate mitigation, rather than adaptation actions, while fossil fuel spending has increased.
Between 2019 and 2020, the official development assistance (ODA) for projects with climate as a principal objective or a significant focus decreased by 4 percentage and 8 percentage points respectively.
Climate finance is money paid by wealthy countries (which are responsible for most of the historic emissions) to developing countries to help them pay for emissions reduction measures and adaptation.
- Climate finance should be in addition to standard development aid.