Frustration spilled over during international climate talks Tuesday as a U.S. negotiator expressed dismay at efforts by developing nations to ratchet up climate aid from wealthy nations.
It came as officials gathered in Bonn, Germany, to lay the groundwork for a new finance target that will be a key part of global climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November.
The meeting lurched to an impasse when Egypt’s negotiator proposed a new level of climate aid — $1.4 trillion — that developing countries would receive every year from the world’s richest nations. The figure surprised western officials who have yet to name a dollar amount despite proposals from India and Saudi Arabia to increase climate aid to between $1 trillion and $1.1 trillion.
“I would love to hear where that $1.4 trillion number came from. I’ve just gotten a flurry of text saying, wasn’t it $1.3? Has the cost gone up $100 billion between today and yesterday?” said Kevin Adams, the lead climate finance negotiator at the U.S. State Department.
