Western hypocrisy - the main barrier in climate finance delivery

The money is there, but their leaders don't have the political will to look beyond short-term gains and their colonial mindsets

- SHAILENDRA YASHWANT

Nepal is diverting its resources from health and education to deal with the climate crisis," Ain Bahadur Shahi, Minister of Forest and Environment of Nepal revealed at a media event in Kathmandu a few days after the city was devastated by massive floods following a torrential downpour that scientists have attributed to climate change.

Why should Nepal, or for that matter any developing countries that emit minimal greenhouse gas emissions, bear the costs of the serial climate disasters caused by the historical emissions of the rich and developed countries?

In 2009, as part of the Copenhagen Accord, developed countries had agreed to mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 to support climate change mitigation and adaptation actions in developing countries. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the developed countries failed to deliver on their promise in full and on time.

"The pledges made by major polluters amount to nothing more than empty talk. They impose impossible barriers for us to access the crucial funds we need to protect our people. Despite continuous attempts, we have not received a single toea in support to date," said Papua New Guinea's Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko last week while announcing the country's intention to boycott the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the UNFCCC to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22.