Poor nations call for more financial support to cope with climate impacts

(Climate Home News, 10 Dec 2020) The world’s poorest countries have called on rich nations to provide more financial aid to help them adapt to climate change and recover from disasters such as flooding, typhoons and drought.

At the Thimphu ambition summit on Wednesday, members of the least developed countries (LDC) group set out how they were trying to show leadership but needed support to put their plans into action.

In a national submission to the UN the day before the summit, Nepal announced that it aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, by investing in renewables, electric transport and reforestation. Adaptation will be a “constant requirement” for the country due its vulnerability to climate change.

The mountainous country, which has among the lowest carbon emissions per capita in the world, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Himalayan glaciers in Nepal have been losing almost half a metre of ice each year since the start of the century and floods and landslides are common. By 2030, the country aims to have adaptation plans in place in all its 753 municipalities.

Achieving those goals depends on international climate finance, said the country’s forest and environment minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet. “The scale of climate finance must grow to meet the needs of the most vulnerable,” he said.

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Climate Home News, 10 Dec 2020: Poor nations call for more financial support to cope with climate impacts