A seawall under construction at Ebeye in Marshall Islands. Photo: Supplied: Hall Contracting
A recent report from the Australia Institute has accused the country of failing to meet its funding agreements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but the Australian government disagrees.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the government will provide AU$3 billion (US$1.9b) in climate finance over 2020-2025, including AU$1.3b (US$863m) to the Pacific region.
However, the Australia Institute report said under the UNFCCC, climate finance should be on top of official development assistance (ODA), not a substitution for it.
"When this principle of additionality is applied, it is clear that the Australian Government's climate finance contribution in the five years to 2025 is zero dollars," the report said.
"Because of the central role of public finance in the quantity and quality of climate finance, it is important for analyses of climate finance to focus on the founding principle of the UNFCCC that developed countries "shall provide new and additional financial resources to meet the agreed full costs incurred by developing country parties".
"That is, climate finance is to be in addition to ODA, not instead of it, nor simply the repackaging of historic ODA programs as 'climate finance'."
The report said recent OECD analysis of climate finance contributions suggests almost half of the public money described as climate finance by OECD countries was not actually funding that was in addition to previous aid spending.
"According to the OECD, so-called climate finance was largely coming from the re-badging or re-focussing of existing development and aid expenditure."
The Australian government's website states funding for climate finance is coming "largely through existing ODA commitments".
Australia's position is that the UNFCCC states developed countries 'shall provide new and additional resources to meet' the costs of climate change, but does not define what the 'new and additional resources' will be compared against, and the UNFCCC does not explicitly require climate finance to be on top of ODA.
A spokesperson for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said addressing climate change "is intrinsically linked to sustainable development and reducing poverty".
"This is why Australia delivers the majority of our climate finance through official development assistance," the spokesperson said.
"Australia has strengthened its climate finance commitment with a focus on grant-based funding for adaptation, in line with Pacific requests. This includes AU$1.3b in climate finance for the Pacific, most of which will support adaptation."
They said Australia is backing Pacific leadership in responding to the climate crisis.
"Australia has backed Pacific leaders' calls for targeted climate finance to meet the specific needs of the region and is contributing a foundational AU$100 million capital contribution to the Pacific Resilience Facility."
The report said the government's claim of AU$3b in climate finance, from 2020 to 2025, even taken at face value, should still be viewed in context - as over the same period Australian taxpayers at the federal level spent AU$53.7b in fossil fuel subsidies.
