Liz Gallagher, CAFOD's Head of Climate Finance Policy said: "The Commission's communique is going for the lowest common denominator - it seriously lacks ambition. There is no mention that the money provided by rich countries must be additional to pledged aid levels. The Commission is neglecting its responsibility to compensate poor people for the damage our emissions have caused.
"Poor people will suffer the first and worst due to climate change, and yet have done the least to cause it
"To make matters worse, Europe could now end up diverting pledged aid used for healthcare and education in poor communities towards reducing the impact of climate change, which we caused in the first place - this is robbing Peter to pay Paul - to allow this to happen is immoral. The Commission had the opportunity to build on Gordon Brown's leadership to make climate finance additional to aid commitments, but failed.
"The EU were once the leading lights on climate change, but the financial crisis is dimming their leadership. Whilst billions of pounds are currently being made available to alleviate pressure on the markets, we are neglecting the survival of those in poor communities."
CAFOD's position
CAFOD states the EU's fairshare to contribute towards addressing the causes and impacts of climate change in developing countries is €35bn per annum by 2020 - the Commission talks of an estimated €2-15bn per annum.
CAFOD has been urging the EU to make public finance for climate change additional to 0.7% overseas development assistance - the Commission makes no explicit reference on additionality to 0.7%, only stating "finance provided for adaptation and mitigation should therefore not come at the expense of traditional development finance".
Notes to editors
The European Commission communique will be considered by the members states in the run up to the October Council, where the EU member states will decide upon the scale and sources of finance needed to ensure global temperatures are limited to as far below 2 degrees as possible.
CAFOD is the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, working with communities in over 50 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, supporting people to find their own solutions to poverty. The agency works with all people regardless of race, gender, religion or nationality.
For further information and interviews, contact CAFOD media officer Pascale Palmer 07785 950 585 / 020 7095 5459
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed speaks to the media during a news conference in Male, September 7, 2009. The Maldives archipelago is threatened by rising sea levels, blamed on climate change, and ...
