Billions in Climate Aid Pledges Have 'Wild West' Accounting
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/12/11/world/europe/ap-eu-climate-countdown-funny-money.html
There's a lot of money in climate financing. Six years ago, rich nations pledged that by 2020 they would provide $100 billion a year in aid, loans and private money to help poorer nations cope with climate change and wean themselves off fossil fuels. This week in Paris, they're pledging even more, and discussing whether developing nations like China need to pony up, too.
But what exactly are they paying for? In the wild west of climate finance, the funding includes things like a "love movie festival," research on elephant sounds and even new coal plants.
When it comes to climate money, expert after expert says, don't believe most figures.
No one is saying money is being misspent, but they are saying it is being misreported, making it sound bigger than it really is.
"Developed countries inflate the figure; they count everything they can find," said Romain Weikmans, a researcher at Brown University's Climate and Development Lab. "It's really a process of lying the more you can."
(More at above url)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/12/11/world/europe/ap-eu-climate-countdown-funny-money.html
There's a lot of money in climate financing. Six years ago, rich nations pledged that by 2020 they would provide $100 billion a year in aid, loans and private money to help poorer nations cope with climate change and wean themselves off fossil fuels. This week in Paris, they're pledging even more, and discussing whether developing nations like China need to pony up, too.
But what exactly are they paying for? In the wild west of climate finance, the funding includes things like a "love movie festival," research on elephant sounds and even new coal plants.
When it comes to climate money, expert after expert says, don't believe most figures.
No one is saying money is being misspent, but they are saying it is being misreported, making it sound bigger than it really is.
"Developed countries inflate the figure; they count everything they can find," said Romain Weikmans, a researcher at Brown University's Climate and Development Lab. "It's really a process of lying the more you can."
(More at above url)