'Umbrella in a Hurricane': U.N. Says Climate Funding Far Too Low

Worldwide investments in limiting climate change are far too low and as flimsy as using an umbrella in a hurricane, the United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa said on Wednesday.

Espinosa, a former Mexican foreign minister, also told delegates from almost 200 nations meeting in Germany that more storms, droughts and floods linked to man-made greenhouse gas emissions threatened “global destabilization”.

She urged far more investments to limit global warming, by shifting from fossil fuels towards cleaner energy, and to protect people from the worsening effects of extreme weather.

“Trying to address climate change at current financing levels is like walking into a Category 5 hurricane protected by only an umbrella,” she said in a speech.

“Right now we are talking in millions and billions of dollars when we should be speaking in trillions,” said Espinosa, who is head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat.  “The impacts of extreme weather are already creating chaos.”

Nations at the April 30-May 10 meeting in Bonn are working on a detailed rule book for the 2015 Paris Agreement, aiming to have it in place by the end of 2018, and are reviewing actions so far to limit global warming.

Developing nations at the talks want firmer guarantees of funds - rich nations have promised to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate finance, from both public and private sources, by 2020 to help them tackle warming.

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