Rich nations accused of rehashing old funding to help the poor

Rich nations’ commitment to help poor countries fight climate change has been called into question once again, after reports show some countries may be rehashing old funding and presenting it as new.

Developed nations have already pledged $29.8bn (£19.2bn) of new and additional funding for poorer countries as agreed in the Copenhagen Accord in December last year, according to analysis from Reuters.

The calculations mean rich countries have "all but met" the $30bn target of "fast-start" finance, originally agreed to run from 2010 to 2012.

But as there are no rules determining exactly what qualifies as “new and additional” funding, many countries appear to be renaming old aid pledges to make them count towards the $30bn goal, said the newswire.

For example, Japan has promised $15bn, much of which originates from its 2008 Cool Earth Partnership, promising $10bn to developing nations by 2013. The US and EU were also accused of re-pledging money which had been committed before the Copenhagen summit.

“I'm afraid the pledges of Copenhagen will not be realised," Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research director Hans Joachim Schellnhuber told Reuters. "It would be a little political miracle if it happened. I'm fairly pessimistic."

Many of the developed nations are struggling to meet the targets while trying to pay back their own debts, while some have accused poorer nations of unrealistically “demanding staggering sums”.

Earlier this month, Dessima Williams, a Grenadian diplomat who represents the group of island states, confirmed that poorer nations were likely to push for an increase in the $100bn a year of climate-related funding, also agreed in the Accord.