(Originally posted on the IIED website here) With a month to go until the start of COP21, Saleemul Huq provides an insight into the perspectives of the Least Developed Countries ahead of the Paris climate talks, as part of a new series of video interviews for IIED.   Least Developed Countries must use their “strength of numbers” if they are to …

(Article originally published here) As we approach the Paris climate summit in December the topic of climate finance is becoming more pressing. It was a major topic of the recent IMF meeting in Lima, Peru and will require the involvement of ministers of finance rather than environment to make decisions. The good news is that a political commitment of $100 …

(Article originally published on The Daily Star here) The recent Champion of the Earth award conferred upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was, significantly, a recognition of the struggle against climate change of the government and people of Bangladesh. Achim Steiner, the head of UNEP, in his citation mentioned both the Bangladesh Climate Change …

(Article originally published here) On September 25, at the UN General Assembly in New York, government leaders will agree to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts” as they sign on to the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — setting the global-development agenda for the next 15 years. It is good to see that climate action and …

(Originally posted in The Guardian newspaper here) Billions were pledged to help poor nations adapt to global warming but trust is eroding as countries such as the US fail to put up the cash   Flooding in the Marshall Islands in 2008. Photograph: Remi Chauvin/Remi Chauvin     The US and other countries need to pay up their $5.8bn of …

(This article was originally published here) Islamic leaders from around the globe tomorrow will unveil a declaration calling on the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims to embrace climate change action as part of their religious duty. Activists gathering in Istanbul for the event said that just as Pope Francis declared climate change essential to the Catholic faith, they hope Islamic religious …

(This article was originally published here) As governments prepare to go to Paris in December to finalise the new Paris Agreement on Climate Change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at its 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), there is an emerging consensus amongst all parties, including the developed countries, of the need to provide substantial funding …

(This article has been originally published here) Countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives need cash to deal with global warming, but have a poor record on transparency  A pillar of an anticipated UN global pact in Paris is financial support for poor countries to cut carbon and climate-proofing. Those launch solar farms in Ethiopia or build sea defences in the cyclone-battered Maldives. …

(This article has been originally published here) Finance needs to flow to the most vulnerable. To to this we need to understand who’s at risk and where the money should go. Over the last decade, a consensus has emerged that the poorest and most vulnerable countries need international finance to help them adapt to climate impacts. There is a willingness …

(This article was originally published here) The Government of France is going to host the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris from November 30 to December 11, where it is expected that a new climate change agreement will be signed. It is hoped that the agreement will be ambitious and …