For Immediate Release: March 9, 2016
Contact: Janet Redman, 508-340-0464, janet@ips-dc.org

Washington, D.C. – On Monday, the United States made an initial $500 million deposit of a $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund, a new global institution with the mandate to support developing countries build clean energy, climate resilient economies. The U.S. funds were transferred as the leadership of the GCF gathers this week in Songdo, South Korea, to decide, among other things, the strategic plan of the new body.

Institute for Policy Studies’ climate policy program director Janet Redman had the following comment:

“We welcome the delivery of $500 million from the United States to the Green Climate Fund and hope that this signals a commitment to fulfill the entire $3 billion pledge well before the 2018 deadline.

“Getting money out of the door and into the hands of countries and communities in the global South to address climate change is not just an environmental imperative. It’s a fairness and equity issue.

“The U.S. is responsible for a quarter of the climate pollution released into the atmosphere since industrialization. We hope this administration and the next will do more to raise the resources to pay our fair share – including innovative ideas like a financial speculation tax.

“While the quantity of money matters, so does the quality of the projects it pays for. To date, there are no clear rules to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars going to the GCF are not spent on so-called “less polluting” fossil fuels like gas or energy projects that threaten public safety and ecosystem health like mega-dams and trash incineration. The U.S. should be a champion of truly clean energy at the Green Climate Fund.”

For more information, please see our GCF User Guide fact sheet series here.

To arrange an interview with Janet Redman, contact Elaine de Leon Ahn, IPS Communications Director, at 202-787-5271 or elaine@ips-dc.org.