In the last week, the world took two giant steps toward reaching a global agreement to fight climate change in 2015:

  • First, the United States and China – the two biggest emitters of climate-warming carbon dioxide – announceda landmark accordpledging to curb those emissions.

  • 第二，美国和日本共同保证高达45亿美元for the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which will help poor countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and further reduce carbon pollution.

But there are some conditions attached, and the details in a白宫事实说明书11月15日发行，指出了三个潜在的速度颠簸，这些速度可能会被一些发展中国家视为有争议的问题。

  1. The White House notes that the $3 billion U.S. pledge is not to exceed 30 percent of total confirmed pledges. That means that if collective pledges to the Fund fall short of $10 billion—the goal called for by UNFCCC chief Christiana Figueres—the U.S. could ultimately deliver less than $3 billion. Japan has a similar condition attached to its pledge. On the positive side, this helps push other countries—like the United Kingdom—to make ambitious pledges. It also pressures countries like Australia and Canada, which have the capability to pledge, but which have so far been reluctant to do so. On the negative side, it raises uncertainty about the total the Fund will receive, which could be a lot less if other countries don’t help the Fund get to the $10 billion goal.

  2. 情况说明书表明，美国打算将其大部分保证目标定位于GCF的私营部门设施，这是该基金的一部分，旨在解锁私营部门资源以抵抗气候变化。必威官网是真的吗While the GCF Board has already agreed that in aggregate, a “significant” amount of the Fund’s resources will be channeled through the Private Sector Facility, attaching specific provisions to an individual pledge about where in the Fund money should flow may prove contentious at the level of the Fund’s Board. At the latest meeting of the GCF Board in Barbados, developing countries indicated that contributors should not pick and choose where their money flows, but should respect decisions made at the Board-level about how funds can flow to different activities in a balanced way.

  3. Although the White House says that the U.S. recognizes GCF should become a “preeminent, effective, and efficient channel” for global climate finance, it also spells out that the U.S. could put some of its $3 billion pledge into other multilateral climate funds, which include the Climate Investment Funds or the Global Environment Facility, depending on progress by the GCF Board in making final decisions over the next few Board meetings through 2015. This may not sit well with some developing countries, given that many see the GCF as the main vehicle for international climate finance going forward, an important step up from other climate funds in terms of balanced governance, with the number of seats on the Fund’s decision-making Board balanced evenly between developed and developing countries.

Japan and the United States joined a host of countries that have already helped expand the fund, bringing the total pledged to the GCF to about $7.5 billion ahead of a November 20 pledging meeting. Germany was the first to pledge, with a nearly $1 billion contribution, triggering France and Sweden to follow suit with respective pledges of $1 billion and $550million. Some developing countries, including Mexico and South Korea have shown tremendous leadership by pledging resources.

对GCF和美国 - 中国协议的财务承诺发出了强烈的信号，即国家发展和发展的国家愿意遏制排放，并帮助社区为气候变化的后果做好准备。必威官网是真的吗日本和美国的承诺还表明，全球气候行动是一项良好的投资，因为两国领先的清洁技术领域都有很好的位置，可以在全必威官网是真的吗球范围内提供气候解决方案。

Ultimately, these are important caveats around the U.S. pledge, and could prove contentious at the GCF pledging meeting on November 20 or the first meeting of the Fund’s Board early next year. Observers should keep their eye on these conditions and their implications for the GCF in the coming months. While we welcome the ambitious U.S. pledge as a demonstration of leadership and commitment to an international climate agreement in 2015, the conditions attached to the pledge have to be communicated constructively to developing country partners to maintain trust and goodwill in the lead-up to the Berlin pledging session on November 20, as well as the fast-approaching UN climate negotiations in Lima this December.