Britain-based Oxfam said Wednesday that the world's poorest people are not receiving the funds they need to cope with climate change. In a new report, Oxfam says most available cash is dispersed to developed countries.
Tracy Carty, policy advisor at Oxfam Great Britain, spoke to VOA about the report.
"It shows that the poorest people who need the most help to adapt to a changing climate are largely being bypassed by the small amount of climate funds that's available," Carty said.
The Oxfam report comes as the United Nations meets this week for climate talks in China.
Delegates from over 150 countries are meeting for the last round of talks before a major summit in Mexico in December.
The goal is to reach an international deal on curbing greenhouse gas emissions and limited global warming.
Carty says delegates in China this week need to focus on making sure the world's poorest have access to climate funds.
"Less than one-tenth of climate funds dispersed so far are estimated to have been for adaptation – that's to help poor people in developing countries who are really bearing the brunt of climate impacts," she added.
She says only $220 million have been donated to fund adaptation plans in the least developed countries. That, she says, is well short of the $2 billion in estimated costs.
Instead, she says the vast majority of funds have gone towards helping larger emerging economies reduce emissions.
That's in part a problem of the system, she says. Funds are dispersed by over 20 different groups, including the World Bank and the United Nations.
What's needed she says is a new global climate fund.
"That needs to be a fund that gives voice and support to those facing the harshest climate impacts," said Carty." It needs to be under the authority of the United Nations and it needs to guarantee that 50 percent of climate finance managed by the fund will be used for adaptation purposes."
She says the creation of this new fund should be a key aim of the UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico at the end of the year.
Last year's summit in Copenhagen failed in its aim of forming a binding international climate deal.
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