Commenting on an EU report launched today at the UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, about the progress made on providing fast-start financing for developing countries in 2010, Friends of the Earth's International Climate Campaigner Asad Rehman said: "The EU might have made good progress by their standards - but this is because they have set the bar so low.
"The UK, as a major contributor to this fund, has a responsibility to ensure that money for developing countries comes from grants, not loans - at the moment, far too much of this cash will simply shackle developing countries with more debt.
"The figures also show that much of this money will be channelled through the World Bank - yet it is one of the largest lenders for fossil fuel projects on the planet and should have no role in managing or delivering this money.
"Negotiators in Cancun must agree that money for developing countries is managed and delivered through a new Global Climate Fund which is overseen by the UN."
At the talks in Cancun, Friends of the Earth is calling for rich countries to cut their emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2020, without resorting to carbon offsetting, and for them to commit to this under a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol - the internationally agreed mechanism for legally-binding emissions reduction targets.
Friends of the Earth is also calling for sufficient money to be made available for developing countries to grow cleanly and adapt to the effects of climate change already causing damage to their people's livelihoods and families.
The green campaigning charity is calling for this money to come from public sources, not a global expansion of carbon markets, and to be governed and distributed by the UN through a new Global Climate Fund.
Friends of the Earth believes the World Bank should play no part in providing, managing or distributing this money because it is one of the largest lenders for fossil fuel projects in the world.
Finally, the green campaigning charity is also calling on Governments to agree an approach to protecting forests which works with, rather than against, the interests of those which rely on them, and not to agree measures which would simply mean they end up in the hands of the highest bidder.
Friends of the Earth is supporting the campaign for a tax on financial transactions - a Robin Hood Tax - to provide finance for developing countries to develop cleanly and adapt to the effects of climate change. For further information visit www.robinhoodtax.org.uk
Source: Friends of the Earth
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