Kerry: Wealthy nations to live up to $100B climate change pledge next year

U.S. special envoy for climate change John Kerry on Wednesday said that wealthy nations will next year be able to live up to their promise of providing $100 billion annually to help developing countries deal with climate change.

In comments during a United Nations Security Council meeting, Kerry said that countries are set to meet that goal, originally promised for 2020, next year — and said it was possible to reach this year. 

“We’re just a little bit shy of it for 2022. It is absolutely clear we will have it for 2023. I still think we can get it for 2022.”

In 2009, wealthy nations agreed to jointly mobilize $100 billion annually by 2020 to help developing countries with their climate-related needs, but they have yet to meet that goal.

The agreement that came out of last year’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, meanwhile, called for developed countries to “at least double” their collective climate finance payments from 2019 levels by 2025.

But, amid the failure to meet the 2009 goal, the one set last year was met with some skepticism.

And while many developed nations have contributed to help developing countries, some developing countries have called for further actions, including a fund that would give reparations for the climate-related loss and damages they have suffered.