Macron seeks climate financing after U.S. withdrawal from Paris accord
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron will on Tuesday urge wealthy countries and global companies to increase climate financing to accelerate efforts to combat global warming and help poorer nations deal with the impact of climate change.
French President Emmanuel Macron attends the "Tech for Planet" event at the "Station F" start up campus ahead of the One Planet Summit in Paris, France, December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
Macron is hosting the “One Planet” summit on the two-year anniversary of the Paris climate accord, which saw nearly 200 governments agree to end their heavy reliance on fossil fuels and limit further global warming.
Macron will want to show that progress toward those hard-fought goals is being made, even after President Donald Trump said in June that he was withdrawing the United States from the pact.
Developing nations say that the rich are not on track with a broader commitment in the Paris accord for rich economies to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 - from public and private sources alike - to help developing countries switch from fossil fuels to greener energy sources and adapt to the effects of climate change.
“What’s missing are concrete projects with real financing,” Macron said late last month.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech before a dinner hosted by Special envoy to the United Nations for climate change Michael Bloomberg (not pictured) at the Grand Palais, on the eve of the One Planet Summit held in Paris, France, December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Ian Langsdon/Pool
However, no internationally binding commitments will be announced.
Some 50 world leaders are due to attend the Paris meeting, including Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and leaders of states on the sharp end of climate change such as Chad, Madagascar and Peru.
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and his wife Brigitte pose as they arrive for a dinner hosted by Special envoy to the United Nations for climate change Michael Bloomberg (R) at the Grand Palais, on the eve of the One Planet Summit held in Paris, France, December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Ian Langsdon/Pool
The United States will send only an official delegation from the Paris Embassy, but superstars Leonardo Di Caprio and Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Governor Jerry Brown, leader of the world’s sixth largest economy, are due to champion a more concerted effort to tackle global warming.
There will be a focus on how public and private financial institutions can mobilize more money and how investors can pressure corporate giants to shift toward more ecologically friendly strategies.
“The missing piece of the jigsaw is the funding to help the world’s poorer countries access clean energy so they don’t follow the fossil-fuel-powered path of the rich world,” said Mohamed Adow, charity Christian Aid’s lead on climate change.
“Without adequate finance, there is no way developing countries can deal with climate change or decarbonize fast enough to deliver the Paris goals.”