The United Nations Green Climate Fund is the world's leading climate fund when it comes to financing green projects in developing countries, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in climate adaptation in the most vulnerable places. Created in 2010, the fund proposes that wealthier nations make these investments and so far about $12 billion has been spent on projects.

On Wednesday, Germany's leader, Olaf Scholz, took a new step during the Petersberg International Climate Dialogue Conference in Berlin, Germany, and pledged to donate EU 2 billion (about R$11 billion) - at a time when the UN warns of cuts to the fund due to lack of resources. In 2022, the U.S. did not repay the debt and the executive director of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Yannick Glemarec, spoke about the need to mobilize additional resources for actions to continue.

The European country's pledge is a third more than the previous contribution to the fund. Once confirmed, the climate investment will be used in the period from 2024 to 2027. However, officials and climate activists regarded the ambition as "average" and expected more.

According to estimates, if all governments increase their contributions by a third, and there are no new taxpayers like the U.S. and Australia, the fund will have about $13 billion to spend between 2024 and 2027. A GCF strategy document points out that $12.5 billion is an "average level of investment," compared to a "status quo" scenario of $10 billion and a "high" scenario of $15 billion. Only in the latter scenario would the fund have sufficient resources to do more and help developing countries' financial systems to work towards a green transition or to promote innovation in clean technologies, the document highlights.

The Secretary of State and Special Envoy for International Climate Action at the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jennifer Morgan, celebrated the announcement on social media and said she was proud of the increased contribution. On Twitter, she said: "We hope all other rich nations will join us in equally ambitious replenishments."

The announcement made before the Bohn Conference in October, considered a preliminary to the COP, is expected to set the standards of donations of the richest nations against the goals of the Paris Agreement. Germany is historically one of the fund's biggest donors, alongside the UK, France and Japan, which have yet to make their latest pledges. Recently, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged $1 billion to the fund, but the amount would be only a partial fulfillment of the outstanding $2 billion that President Barack Obama pledged before Donald Trump.

"I appeal to the many new traditional and possible donors – let's continue this success story, it's more important than ever," Scholz said.

Source: Um só Planeta