C NEWS
C.1 210111 Increasing the Material Footprint
‘Green Growth’ policies creates euphoria among investment bankers even in the middle of the Corona pandemic. Governmentes around the globe are believed to come up with very strong extraction incentives under the ‘Green Growth’ label.
C.2 210102 A Macabre Spectacle
The central, befuddling economic reality of the United States at the close of 2020 is that everything is terrible in the world, while everything is wonderful in the financial markets. It’s a macabre spectacle. Asset prices keep reaching new, extraordinary highs, when around 3,000 people a day are dying of coronavirus and 800,000 people a week are filing new unemployment claims. Even an enthusiast of modern capitalism might wonder if something is deeply broken in how the economy works.
C.3 210102 Climate Finance Shadow Report 2020
Oxfam has released this report with subtitle Asessing progress towards the $100 billion commitment Progress is NOT in line with need or pledges.
Climate change could undo decades of progress in development and dramatically increase global inequalities. There is an urgent need for climate finance to help countries cope and adapt. Over a decade ago, developed countries committed to mobilize $100bn per year by 2020 to support developing countries to adapt and reduce their emissions. The goal is a critical part of the Paris Agreement. As 2020 draws to a close, Oxfam’s Climate Finance Shadow Report 2020 offers an assessment of progress towards the $100bn goal.
Based on 2017–18 reported numbers, developed countries are likely to claim they are on track to meet the $100bn goal. And on their own terms, they may be. But how the goal is met is as important as whether it is met. The dubious veracity of reported numbers, the extent to which climate finance is increasing developing country indebtedness, and the enduring gap in support for adaptation, LDCs and SIDS, are grave concerns. Meeting the $100bn goal on these terms would be cause for concern, not celebration.