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New Zealand on Monday pledged to quadruple international aid in tackling climate change, acknowledging that its response to the global challenge was not enough.
As global officials prepare for the UN summit on COP26 global warming in Glasgow, Scotland, Prime Minister Jacinta Arden announced in Wellington that the budget for the issue would reach $ 930 million over the next four years.
At least half of that funding will go to the Pacific islands affected by rising sea levels, Artern said.
“We need to increase our support for the Pacific family and our neighbors who are at the forefront of climate change and need our support,” he said in a statement.
The Prime Minister explained that the money would help communities to cope with the damage caused by storms, sea level rise and serious events such as floods and droughts.
The Climate Action Tracker website said New Zealand’s current climate aid budget was “not significant enough” and that the country’s overall response to global warming was “not quite enough.”
Increasing funding from 2022 to 2025 will bring New Zealand’s individual contribution to the global climate fund on par with Britain.
Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said relatively rich countries such as New Zealand have a duty to help vulnerable countries cope with global warming.
“Our response over the last 30 years has been far worse than the challenge,” Shaw told Radio New Zealand.
Although Wellington acknowledged that it had “started too late”, he assured that his country’s climate policies were comparable to other countries with similar incomes.
© 2021 AFP
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