The international climate-finance system is at a crossroads. Despite decades of negotiations, declarations and financial pledges, developing countries remain woefully short of the resources needed to confront the mounting consequences of climate change.
For climate-vulnerable Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and vulnerable coastal and mountain nations, the gap between promises and actual support has become increasingly untenable.
The catastrophic Himalayan ice-rock avalanche disaster in August underscored the vulnerability of mountain communities to climate-related hazards. It has also exposed the limitations of existing international arrangements for financing disaster recovery, climate adaptation…