The Climate Fund: To Recover and Adapt?

For the first time in history, the agenda of the Climate Top (COP27) included the question whether developing countries should be compensated for climate damage. This topic has been brewing for a long time, waiting for the moment that it could no longer be ‘ignored’. That moment appeared to be the 6th of November 2022. In Egypt, delegates of the 195 countries that are part of the Climate Treaty came together and discussed this extremely relevant issue.

Last weekend, a first step in the right direction has been taken and the COP27 agreed on the establishment of a fund to cover climate damage. How the fund will be set up though, or which countries should be paying, is not clear yet.

According to the chairman of the conference, discussions around the topic can be considered a sign of solidarity towards the victims of climate disasters. However, a sign of solidarity will not help these people to cope with natural disasters, extreme drought, or any of the other difficulties that rich countries have caused them. And neither will an ‘empty fund’. Luckily, more and more of these rich countries, especially European ones, accept the fact that they will need to compensate. But one big issue is still on the table: will their commitment to the fund bind these countries to infinite and unforeseeable costs? (Not to forget that the behaviour of the same ‘rich countries’ have left developing countries to infinite and unforeseeable climate disasters).

In the meantime, developing countries point at the fact that they do not even receive the promised money to support their transition towards a sustainable society and economy. Based on a report published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, they still miss at least 17 billion in this process. Last week in Egypt, the European Union promised another 1 billion to developing countries in order to help them adapt to climate change. One of the more evident ways to do so is by investments in renewable energy. But interestingly, Sustainable Development Goal indicators show that developing countries already consume a much larger share of their energy from renewable sources. In some African countries, this energy consumption from renewable sources even goes up to 100%.

Thus, without any doubt, they need our financial support to deal with the damage that we caused. But when it comes to adaptation and energy consumption, as well as access and investments in clean energy, we might need their help and experience as well.

Being at the forefront of the energy transition, BLIX Consultancy wants to contribute with its know-how, long standing experience and lessons learned in wind energy generation. By investing in the development of offshore and onshore wind farms, we can make sure that future damage to developing countries is minimized – something that we – as ‘rich countries’- owe them.