U.S. Offers $1bn for Climate Aid, Falling Short of Biden’s Pledge

U.S. Congress has proposed $1 billion to help poor countries cope with climate change, a figure that falls significantly short of President Biden’s promise that the United States will spend $11.4 billion annually by 2024 to ensure developing nations can transition to clean energy and adapt to a warming planet.
The money is part of a sprawling $1.7 trillion government spending package that lawmakers made public early Tuesday and are expected to vote on this week.
Democrats had sought $3.4 billion for various global climate programs but Republicans quashed what they called “radical environmental and climate policies” in the spending bill. The Republicans are poised to assume control of the House in January, further dimming prospects for additional climate funds for at least the next two years.
The setback for Mr. Biden comes a month after he appeared at the United Nations climate talks in Egypt, where he promised to deliver financial help to developing nations that are suffering from the impacts of a climate crisis for which they are ill-prepared and did little to cause.
“The climate crisis is hitting hardest those countries and communities that have the fewest resources to respond and to recover,” Mr. Biden told the gathering.
The $1 billion in international climate money in the spending bill would be spread over several programs including the Climate Investment Funds, which are housed at the World Bank and are aimed at helping countries develop clean energy; the Global Environment Facility, a multilateral fund that focuses on biodiversity and tends to win Republican support; and smaller programs directed at assisting the world’s poorest nations. The money marked a .09 percent increase from Congress’ allocation in 2021.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has raised the stakes. At the United Nations climate summit in Egypt the United States agreed to the creation of an entirely new fund aimed at helping poor countries that are experiencing irreversible losses from climate change. The United States and other industrialized countries did not commit to a specific level of funding.