China is already a climate finance leader despite West’s finger-pointing

The world’s climate leaders have gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the latest UN climate conference. It takes place in the midst of warnings that if the global community does not cut emissions by 42 per cent by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035, we will not be able to avoid the catastrophic costs of climate change.

The good news is that thanks to advances in China, Japan, Europe and the United States, the technology that is needed to meet these targets stands ready. All that is necessary is to provide the right incentives and financing. The bad news is that rather than rising to the challenge, negotiations on financing appear mired in a finger-pointing exercise where some countries are blaming others for not paying their fair share of the cost.

Rich nations pledged at the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009 to provide US$100 billion of climate finance to developing countries by 2020. Those countries only made good on that goal in 2022, and now many of them are calling on India and China to step up and contribute as well.