The prime minister of Barbados campaigns for reform of global climate finance

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley

Thursday's summit of world leaders in Paris may provide access to hundreds of billions of dollars for developing nations to combat climate change.

First female prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, is spearheading the effort to secure this funding and tells BBC News that her small nation desperately needs assistance.

Poorer countries demand more funding because they contributed little to climate change but suffer its worst effects.

They also find it difficult to finance pricey initiatives like renewable energy.

One of the main issues in climate negotiations has always been financing for climate-related projects, such as solar farms or flood defenses.

To back up her demand for a fundamental overhaul of the global financial system, Ms. Mottley has nevertheless assembled a global coalition.

In Paris, Ms. Mottley told BBC News, "We are all in this together.". "If we don't understand that, we won't take the urgent action required to save the planet and save lives. ".

The French President Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Minister of Barbados are co-hosts of the conference in Paris.

A woman walks on a wall of sandbags, placed to prevent erosion
Developing defenses against flooding brought on by climate change is a priority for island nations like the Maldives.

The Summit for a New Global Financing Pact is being attended by dozens of world leaders, including the German Chancellor, the Brazilian President, the World Bank's new president, the Chinese Prime Minister, and the US Treasury Secretary.

The UK is sending Andrew Mitchell, the minister of international development.

Ms. Mottley wants the meeting to produce results.

She calls the threat posed by climate change "a death sentence" for the planet. She says, "If it's a death sentence, then we need to act quickly.".   .

Insiders at the summit anticipate hearing that the goal for Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), a type of international currency, of $100 billion has been reached.

The low-income nations will receive these assets for use in climate change programs.

But Ms. Mottley has her sights set on a much greater prize, a scheme known as the "Bridgetown Agenda" after the capital of Barbados.

By completely modernizing the global monetary system, it hopes to increase the amount of funding available to the nations that need it the most.

The current institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were established by the victorious nations at a conference in the US state of New Hampshire's Bretton Woods ski resort near the end of World War II.

Next year marks the 80th anniversary of the so-called "Bretton Woods system.".

According to Ms. Mottley, she wants to adapt it to the challenges of the modern world by shifting the emphasis away from richer nations and toward achieving results that benefit everyone, such as assisting developing nations in addressing climate change.   .

Low reservoir levels linked to drought
With the rise in global temperatures, many countries are experiencing severe drought.

These organizations were established to aid in the post-World War Two reconstruction effort, which is why they are still in existence today. In terms of climate, we are in a situation comparable to World War Two, she said.

If the world is to avoid the worst effects of climate change, the International Energy Agency warned this week, annual investments in clean energy in developing countries will need to triple from $770 billion in 2022 to as much as $2 point 8 trillion by the early 2030s.

One suggestion is for organizations like the World Bank to provide loans for climate action projects at lower rates.

Ms. Mottley notes that building flood defenses in Barbados or Angola is much more expensive than it is in the Netherlands or the UK.

The same is true when installing solar farms or erecting wind turbines.

This is due to the high interest rates that low-income nations must pay, which are frequently two or even three times higher than those that developed countries pay.

The risks of specific projects, however, don't vary nearly as much as that.

Another recommendation is for organizations like the World Bank to consent to guarantee loans for developing countries' efforts to combat climate change. As a result, lending in the private sector would be encouraged.

According to experts, these initiatives could result in loans for climate projects in low-income countries totaling hundreds of billions of dollars.

The creation of an auction in which developing countries could compete for affordable financing for climate projects is another idea.

The IMF and UN would be in charge of managing this "Climate Mitigation Trust Fund," which would be financed with SDRs worth tens of billions of dollars.

The initiatives that slow down global warming the fastest would come out on top.   .

On these proposals, it is not anticipated that a final decision will be made, but Ms. Mottley is confident that advancement will be made.

We teach our kids not to put off until tomorrow what needs to be done right away, according to Ms. Mottley.

In order to influence people's behavior today, she continues, "I actually catch myself repeating a lot of things that we would say to children. We can learn a lot from that, I think.

. "

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