Tiny Pacific island nations hard hit by climate change, are being outmuscled by larger states in the race to get U.N. funds for climate change adaptation
By Stian Reklev
ULAN BATOR, March 12 (Reuters) - Tiny Pacific island nations, among those hardest hit by climate change, are being outmuscled by larger states in the race to get U.N. funds earmarked for climate change adaptation, Tuvalu's minister of natural resources said on Wednesday.
At a meeting in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator where land-locked developing countries and small island states debated how to ensure future food security amid hotter weather and rising sea-levels, Tuvalu Natural Resources Minister Elisala Pita slammed the U.N.'s funding mechanisms.
"They promise a lot of funding, but the criteria to access them are so complicated, and we lack the capacity," he told Reuters.
The low-lying South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is one of the countries most vulnerable to rising waters and other climate change effects.
Pita said some regional organisations with the expertise to assist in attaining funds prioritise "big staff with big salaries", meaning some funds never reached where they were meant to.
Most Pacific island states get funds from richer nations or multilateral development banks to deal with impacts from climate change, such as coastal erosion and salinisation.
But assistance from earmarked funds such as the U.N. Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund was not forthcoming, Pita said.
"We can talk all day about climate impacts, but what can we do without financial support?" he asked.
The meeting took place as delegates from nearly 200 nations met in Bonn to discuss a new international treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists say cause global warming, and secure funding for adversely impacted poor countries.
They hope to agree a pact in Paris in December 2015, but the Bonn meeting has been bogged down in squabbling over procedural issues, blocking progress. (Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Michael Perry)
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