COP28 Launches Declaration on Climate, Relief, and Recovery; VP Harris Commits $3B to Green Climate Fund
The COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace was formally launched at the Dubai summit on Sunday. The document, passed by 70 governments and 39 international organizations, focuses on climate finance for highly vulnerable and fragile settings along with an initial package of financial, programming, and partnership solutions, according to a conference statement. One day earlier, the conference passed the Declaration on Climate and Health and secured $1 billion of climate health financing. According to COP28 officials, the goal of the former declaration is to accelerate “global efforts to make fragile and conflict-affected countries and communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change.”
On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the United States’ commitment of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund. This pledge is in addition to the $2 billion the US has already contributed and is contingent on funding approval from the politically divided US Congress.
The Green Climate Fund, with over $20 billion in pledges, is the world’s largest fund dedicated to supporting climate action in developing nations. Harris, a last-minute stand-in for US President Joe Biden, highlighted the significance of the pledge in her address. “Today, I am proud to announce a new $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund which helps developing countries invest in resilience, clean energy, and nature-based solutions,” she stated.
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The fund’s facilitators revealed that the current round of replenishments has amassed about $9.3 billion for projects in climate-vulnerable countries from 2024 to 2027. However, these pledges fall short of the roughly $250 billion per year that developing nations will require by 2030 for adaptation to a warmer world, as estimated by the United Nations.
Harris, accompanied by climate envoy John Kerry and other senior officials, emphasized the US’s commitment to climate progress. “It was important … to ensure that a leader from the United States was at COP,” said an official, underlining the US’s narrative of environmental progress.
COP28 is underway in the United Arab Emirates until December 12, during which time it will host more than 70,000 participants.
The White House has not explained President Biden’s absence from the event that will be visited by leaders of some 200 nations, but administration sources are suggesting the reason is the toll the Israel-Hamas war has taken on the president.
