Thursday, November 17, 2022

*Free* Current climate mitigation finance flows are inadequate and unfair

Reports and Proceedings

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)

In a Policy Forum, Shonali Pachauri and colleagues argue that current global climate mitigation investments are inadequate and unfair. According to Pachauri et al., rapid and substantial investments in climate mitigation within this decade are needed in order to meet the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement. However, many political and financial barriers continue to hinder progress toward this end. “Clear institutional and regulatory frameworks are needed to mobilize the magnitude of climate finance required to achieve globally agreed climate targets,” write the authors. “Agreement on how to redirect international and domestic finance towards urgent near-term mitigation investments and climate adaptation efforts will be critical to the success of negotiations at the COP27.” Although global mitigation investment pathways modeled in the sixth assessment report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reach global climate goals in a cost-effective manner, it fails to provide any helpful insight into who should finance these investments or how to allocate the costs and benefits of mitigation efforts in a fair and just way. Using global economic data and equity considerations, Pachauri et al. re-evaluate global cost-effective mitigation investments and identify “fair-share” regional contributions that better describe the direction and magnitude of financial flows needed to meet current mitigation plans equitably. They found that, under most equity considerations, investments from North America and Europe to other regions will need to substantially increase relative to present levels to meet the Paris Agreement goals.

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