Climate change fund for poor countries 'seriously flawed'

MANILA, Philippines - A World Bank-managed climate change fund for poor countries is “seriously flawed" because these will be “disbursed largely as loans," Asian debt campaigners said on Tuesday.

In a statement datelined Sapporo, Japan, the Jubilee South-Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS-APMDD) denounced the Group of Eight countries for giving the “World Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs) a major role in help[ing] developing countries in their efforts to mitigate rises in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change."

Created in Potsdam, Germany, the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) were endorsed by the G8 Finance Ministers on June 14 and approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors last July 1, a few days before the G8 Summit of Leaders in Japan, the group claimed.

The World Bank has no credibility and legitimacy to manage funds intended for climate adaptation and mitigation. Furthermore, the concept and design of the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds are seriously flawed," said Lidy Nacpil of JS-APMDD.

For his part, Md. Shamsuddoha of the Equity and Justice Working Group of Bangladesh, also a member of JS-APMDD, said that “why should developing countries have to borrow funds from the World Bank and rich governments to use for climate change adaptation and mitigation when in the first place these very same institutions are responsible for the climate crises?"

Nacpil stressed that G8 governments should not expect repayment of funds for climate change adaptation and mitigation, nor count their financing as aid or assistance.

Rather, G8 governments should pay reparations and restitution to South countries for the environmental damage and destruction their policies, their economies and their multinational corporations have caused.

Dr. Vinod Raina, a scientist from India and officer of JS APMDD, added that Climate Adaptation and Mitigation funds should be managed by democratic and accountable institutions.

“New multilateral mechanisms should be set up which provide for strong representation from developing countries both government and civil society. South countries should be able to design and implement their own appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies," stressed Dr. Raina. -

source: GMANews.TV