(Montreal) Quebec is loosening the purse strings to help developing countries adapt to the consequences of climate change by making a new contribution of $10 million to the United Nations Adaptation Fund.
This aid, announced as part of the international climate conference Future Adaptations 2023, which is being held this week in Montreal, will make it possible to finance investments in food security, water management, sustainable agriculture, coastal areas, disaster risk reduction and urban and rural development.
“This support reiterates Quebec’s commitment to implementing the objectives of the Paris agreement, which calls for an increase in funding for developing countries,” declared the Minister of the Environment, Fight against climate change, Wildlife and Parks, Benoit Charrette, in a press release.
This is Quebec’s fourth contribution to the Adaptation Fund, bringing its total commitment to $33 million [du Canada].
The Adaptation Fund constitutes the main financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concerning adaptation to the consequences of global warming; it arises from the Kyoto Protocol.
Since its launch in 2007, it has provided around $1 billion (US) to fund 150 adaptation projects.
The annual costs of adaptation in developing countries are, however, considerably higher, being estimated at 70 billion (US) dollars per year, an amount expected to rise to between 140 and 300 billion in 2030, and between 280 to 500 billion in 2050.
The City of Montreal, for its part, announced on the sidelines of the conference that it will develop 30 parks and 400 “sponge” sidewalks in the next two years, in order to reduce the impacts of climate change on its territory.