New deadline for $100bn climate fund, but Combet remains uncommitted

• by: David Crowe, National affairs editor
• From: The Australian
• December 11, 2012 12:00AM

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AUSTRALIA faces a new deadline to reveal its contribution to a $100 billion climate change fund in the wake of a global deal that for the first time recognises the "loss and damage" to developing nations from greenhouse gas emissions.

Rich nations are expected to submit plans next year to contribute to the scheme, heightening pressure on the Gillard government to honour its commitments to the global target.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet declared that Australia had not committed to compensating anyone for loss and damage, countering local and international claims the new language was a shift in financing talks.
The government also made it clear it did not expect all of Australia's share of the $100bn to come from taxpayers, given an agreement at Copenhagen in 2009 to provide the money from public and private sources.
Observers at last weekend's climate summit in Doha, however, insisted on the importance of the "loss and damage" agreement and called on the government to redouble its funding to help developing nations hurt by rising sea levels or extreme weather events.

Organisations including the Climate Institute and Oxfam said Australia was expected to submit plans next year to "scale up" its contribution to the global target every year from 2020. The Australian National University climate change expert Frank Jotzo estimated that Australia's contribution, including public and private finance, would be about $2.4bn based on its share of global GDP and carbon emissions. On Sunday, he said it could be up to $3bn.
Oxfam climate change policy adviser Simon Bradshaw said the inclusion of "loss and damage" in the Doha agreement was a "big decision" and recognised the reality of the risk to vulnerable countries. "One of our concerns coming out of Doha is that rich countries have not given any confidence that the $100bn will be delivered."
World Wildlife Fund climate change policy manager Will McGoldrick said Australia had to commit to address loss and damage because it shared responsibility for the impact of climate change.
"If our neighbours cause damage to our house, we would expect compensation for that. That's how the Pacific islands see it," he said. The Doha meeting "invited" nations to submit plans late next year, at a summit in Warsaw, to show how they would "scale up" to meet the target.
Asked if the government supported the $100bn fund and the new provision on loss and damage, a spokesman for Mr Combet cautioned against expectations of additional funding.
"Australia is committed to providing its fair share of international climate finance, but this does not represent compensation for loss and damage. No figure of $3bn for Australia has now been put on the table," he said
The spokesman said the $100bn goal was "clearly not solely related to public sources of finance . . . At Doha, developed countries, including Australia, agreed to continue their commitment to climate finance for developing countries and to look to increase these efforts in future," the spokesman said. "Australia did not agree to specific funding commitments at Doha. No new legally binding obligations on climate finance were agreed at Doha."
Opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt said the Coalition did not support the concept of loss and damage. "There are serious question marks over how it would operate and if it was within the ($100bn) envelope it would risk completely over-riding the original intention of the fund."

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