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EU Finance Ministers today adopted a report on Europe’s progress towards its share of the $30 billion promised by rich countries at the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit to help poor countries

The joint US-China statement on new domestic policy commitments and a vision for a global climate change deal underscores the importance the world’s two largest emitters place on solving the climate crisis, says Oxfam, but collective action is needed.

On Wednesday, the European Commission will put forward a communication outlining its stance on the global climate change talks aimed at reaching a deal by world leaders by the end of the year.

Responding to the final communiqué of the COP25 climate talks in Madrid, Chema Vera, Interim Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: “The world is screaming out for climate action but this summit has responded with a whisper. The poorest nations are in a sprint for survival yet many governments have barely moved from the starting blocks."

Oxfam welcomed reports of increased climate finance pledges made by finance ministers in Lima today, but warned that only a fraction is meant to help countries most vulnerable adapt to the devastating effects of climate change.

Global climate finance levels are woefully insufficient to keep warming below 1.5°C or protect people from the devastating impacts of climate breakdown —and this gap is particularly evident in countries mired in conflict or that are unable to provide basic services for their communities. 

 Oxfam analysis of how climate change funds are allocated and accounted for shows very concerning trends for the world’s poorest countries and communities.

The UN climate talks must be rescued from the shambles of Copenhagen by revolutionizing the way the negotiations are carried out so that a deal can be delivered in 2010 and the chaos witnessed in Copenhagen is never repeated, said Oxfam today.

The world’s most climate vulnerable countries must work together in international climate negotiations or the needs of the one billion people they represent risk being ignored, concluded a summit of international civil society in Dhaka this week.

International climate talks (in Bonn, Germany 1 – 12 June) must ensure that a climate finance proposal meets the needs of the world’s most vulnerable countries, and negotiations must move forward quickly if a global deal is to be secured in time to avoid a human catastrophe.