Global leaders will conclude their summit on climate finance in Paris today following a significant announcement from the World Bank that would provide some relief from the monster of sovereign debt preventing developing nations from protecting themselves against the impacts of climate change. The World Bank announced it would allow developing nations to suspend debt payments following extreme weather events, a reform supported by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
While some international leaders and institutions may attempt to take a bow following the two-day summit, leaders from the Global South are singing at tune closer to ‘the rich better have our money.’
“It went very well to talk about the scale of change needed and the scale of finance needed to tackle climate change and poverty alleviation at the same time,” Saleemul Huq, the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, in Bangladesh, told The Guardian. “I don’t much care for announcements of pledges from such summits. I would prefer to see each leader here to actually deliver what they have promised.”
Neither Treasury Sec. Yellen nor World Bank President Ajay Banga have officially denied that Rihanna convinced them to support the measures. Senegal also secured a $2.7 billion in funding for a transition to cleaner energy from the G-7. (Summit: (AP, Axios, Wall Street Journal $, Reuters, Reuters, explainer, Prensa Latina, Reuters; World Bank: The Guardian, FT $, Bloomberg $, Climate Home; Yellen: E&E $; Senegal: Bloomberg $, Reuters, Climate Home; Rihanna: The Hill, Billboard)