Dispatch from Copenhagen: Clinton Joins $100 Billion Pledge

Posted by: Mark Scott on December 17, 2009

The climate change summit must be reaching its climax because the big hitters have started to arrive. In the late morning on Dec. 17, it was U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s turn to take the stage. Striding into a packed press conference with cameras flashing, Clinton laid out a financial incentive to get a deal done: The U.S. would participate in a $100 billion annual fund by 2020 if a climate change compromise is reached.

That sounds like a lot of cash, though it’s at the low end of most estimates of how much money will be needed to tackle global warming. And Clinton also added caveats: the money would only be for the least developed countries (read: not China); it would only be available if transparent funding mechanisms were in place (read: no corruption); and it would focus on forestry and adaptation projects (read: no subsidies for renewables in big emerging economies).

“One hundred billion dollars a year is a lot of money,” Clinton told a press conference. “It’s appropriate, useable, and will be effective.”

The $100 billion figure could help push policymakers towards an agreement. It follows other financial pledges made by developed nations on Dec. 16 in the hope of forcing through a deal. Japan, for instance, promised $15 billion between 2010 and 2012 to developing countries if a compromise is reached in Copenhagen. The U.S. also put forward $1 billion in deforestation aid, adding to a combined $2.5 billion from France, Australia, Norway, Japan, and Britain over the same period.

But the devil is in the details. Right now, negotiators are trying to push through two separate proposals—one that’s legally binding under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, another that doesn’t have such specific objectives. The European Union and most emerging economies prefer binding targets, while the U.S. and China favor a non-binding alternative. And delegates say specific financial targets have yet to be reached.

“I’m keenly looking forward to learning what the U.S.’ contribution will be [under the $100 billion plan],” says Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

To be sure, the fact the U.S., which never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, is talking about a specific financial target is a step forward, even if more detail is needed. Further pledges are expected from the West before the summit closes on Dec. 18. Stay tuned for more.