France’s Monique Barbut Urges EU To Block Funding For India Decarbonization

France’s Minister for the Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, told AFP that France was calling on the European Union to take a firmer stance against the climate inaction of emerging countries, pointing to India after the EU announced the completion of a free-trade agreement at the end of January.

“A family boards their brand-new minivan at dawn to avoid traffic for the summer vacation”

AlloCiné

Barbut said that during a meeting between representatives of the European states, “we learned that part of this agreement provided 500 million euros to India for decarbonization,” and she said this proposal has “been blocked” at this stage.

AlloCiné

She said she had written to the Commission and that she was “not in favor of such funding as long as India has not submitted a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in line with its commitments.”

Barbut added that NDCs are climate plans each country normally must update every five years under the 2015 Paris Agreement, and she urged the EU to harden its approach with a “more strategic and also more transactional” approach.

The environment ministers of the Twenty-Seven were set to debate on Tuesday in Brussels the EU’s climate diplomacy, as Barbut said “That means clearly we only pay if you do.”

At the Bonn climate talks, Climate Home News reported that “Dark clouds are gathering over adaptation finance,” with the US having “all but stopped providing it” and European countries “slashing their aid budgets to spend more on their militaries.”

The outlet said the Adaptation Fund has allocated $1.6 billion to 226 projects, benefiting 90 million people, and it described the fund’s grants as “a bright spark” for pioneering work in communities.

Climate Home News

It added that governments agreed at COP26 in Glasgow that the Adaptation Fund should get 5% of the proceeds from all Article 6.4 carbon credits, while noting that how much money that will amount to is uncertain.

Climate Home News reported that Adaptation Fund head Mikko Ollikainen told the outlet in Bonn that the sum was “not insignificant,” while the fund has been seeking $300 million per year from donor governments in recent years.

The outlet said the transition needed for the fund to serve the Paris Agreement “is being blocked, frustrating efforts to replenish the fund and ensure that the crucial adaptation finance can flow to those that need it the most,” quoting small islands’ lead negotiator Anne Rasmussen.

Climate Home News said the stalemate over adaptation finance is tied to who is considered a developed country at UN climate talks, because that designation implies responsibilities for providing climate finance.

“In an interview with AFP, France's Minister for the Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, called on the European Union to take a firmer stance against the climate inaction of emerging countries”

Sciences et Avenir

The outlet reported that traditional donor countries have been pushing for years for some wealthier developing countries like Saudi Arabia and China to contribute to climate finance, and it said they want the Adaptation Fund’s board seats split between “developed” and “developing” countries.

It contrasted that position with developing countries, which have long opposed any of their members being considered developed, arguing instead that board seats should continue to be split between “Annex 1” and “non-Annex 1” countries.

Climate Home News quoted African Group’s chair Antwi-Boasiako Amoah saying he was “alarmed” that adaptation finance was being “held hostage,” and it linked the dispute to categories drawn up in 1992 that are more rigid than “developed” and “developing.”

The outlet said Ollikainen warned that a delay in agreement beyond COP31 is a risk, as governments were hoping to wrap up talks in Bonn this week and rubber-stamp the decision early at COP31.