Fighting Crises With Cash, Except for the Climate Crisis

When there’s a global crisis, wealthy countries tend to find money.

That was the case in the United States when big banks were bailed out to soften a global financial crisis. That was the case for the coronavirus pandemic. And for military aid to allies like Ukraine.

But the climate crisis? It’s complicated.

This weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and promised $3 billion for the Green Climate Fund, which benefits poorer nations. But Biden administration officials already are acknowledging it will be a struggle to persuade Congress to approve the money.

A day after that, John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, announced at the talks a new carbon credit initiative in which more than a dozen major companies including Walmart, Pepsi and McDonalds will help developing countries pivot away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy. The creation of the program is a tacit acknowledgment that governments simply aren’t putting up the trillions of dollars needed to fund the energy transition.

One of the big tests facing this summit, known as COP28, is whether it will fare any better than earlier climate talks at shoring up anything close to the money that’s needed.

None of what is being discussed and promised at the meeting — whether it’s tripling of renewable energy, adapting to the hazards of a hotter world, or compensating countries for the irreparable losses of climate change — can happen without huge sums of money. Not to mention the mounting frustration of leaders from the global south over unkept promises of aid. Money is crucial to restoring confidence.

“The world needs long-term money,” the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, said on Saturday in a statement on behalf of a coalition of climate-vulnerable countries. “We give thanks to the progress made but it does nothing but assuage consciences. Choosing between people and the planet is a false choice. The world has enough funds.”