The U.S has been blocking U.N talks on funding poorer nations against the global battle of climate change, AFP reported on Saturday. Across the world, protests mounted pressure on leaders to fasten measures for climate change. Scores of fishermen and labourers in Bangkok joined the protests outside the UN.
Washington, with prior support from Japan and Australia, brought forward a proposal which specifies removing rules on accountability of nations on climate action funding, sources familiar with the negotiations told AFP.
Sources in Bangkok also noticed the developed countries, including U.S’s refusal to discuss the issue of informing other countries of their funding plans in the future.
A senior climate negotiator told AFP that the U.S delegation was “poisoning” the discussions, while another accused it of changing the rules.
“It is clear to us that there is no goodwill and willingness to advance on matters of utmost importance to developing countries,” the head of a developing country bloc which included China, Majid Shafie-Pour said.
The Paris deal which had pledged $100 billion annually from 2020 to poorer nations reeling under natural disasters did not specify how much money should be provided and how richer nations who donated would report the contributions.
Earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, at the launch of the 2018 New Climate Economy report on Wednesday, expressed concern over the unprecedented and damaging floods in Kerala and California’s wildfires, saying that ‘climate change is running faster than we are’. He urged action for prevention of crises relate to climate.
Last year, the UN chief said that climate-related disasters were responsible for thousands of deaths and USD 320 billion dollars in losses.
“Climate change is running faster than we are. The impacts are devastating, and it is usually the poorest and the most vulnerable who are hit first and worst by storms, floods, droughts, wildfires and rising seas,” Guterres said.
“This year, we have seen the terrible flooding in Kerala in India, savage wildfires in California and Canada, and dramatic warming in the Arctic that is affecting weather patterns across the northern hemisphere. The trend is clear. The last 19 years included 18 of the warmest years on record, and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise,” he said.
