US to double public climate finance to developing countries by 2024

The United States has said it intends to double public climate finance to developing countries by 2024.

As part of the goal, the White House on Thursday (local time) said that by 2024, it would triple the financing of climate adaptation. It said it will work with Congress to enact needed legislation.

"The United States intends to double, by 2024, our annual public climate finance to developing countries relative to the average level during the second half of the Obama-Biden Administration (FY 2013-2016). As part of this goal, the United States intends to triple our adaptation finance by 2024. The Biden Administration will work closely with Congress to meet these goals," the White House said in a media release.

"President Joe Biden's Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, called for the preparation of a Climate Finance Plan. This Plan - the first of its kind in the US government - focuses on international climate finance.

"US agencies, working with development partners, will prioritise climate in public investments, enhance technical assistance and long-term capacity, align support with country needs and priorities, and boost investments in adaptation and resilience," it added.

The release stated that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would release a new Climate Change Strategy in November 2021, at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26).

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) would change its development strategy to include climate for the first time, and prioritise climate mitigation and adaptation.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation's new climate strategy would focus on climate-smart development and sustainable infrastructure, aiming to put more than 50 per cent of its funding into climate-related investments over the next five years, the release said.

It further stated that the US Treasury would direct US executive directors in multilateral development banks (MDBs) to ensure that those institutions, including the World Bank, set and apply ambitious climate finance targets and policies.

Earlier in the day, Biden committed that the United States would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 as part of the country's efforts to combat climate change.

( With inputs from ANI )