Turning Carbon into Gold

Recognizing that poor communities in developing countries are the least responsible for climate change but most vulnerable to its impacts, the Bali Action Plan calls for ‘new and additional resources’ and ‘innovative finance mechanisms' to address urgent climate adaptation needs.Oxfam suggests that new financing mechanisms linked to emissions reduction regimes could be the way forward in the post-2012 climate negotiations and yield the minimum of $50 billion per year necessary for adaptation needs in developing countries. To finance adaptation needs in a post-2012 regime, Oxfam calls for the following:

• A portion of the international emissions allowances allocated to each developed country with an emissions commitment should be set aside and auctioned off, rather than simply given away for free.
• Revenues should be generated from international sectors that are currently not regulated under the Kyoto Protocol.
• Funds should be delivered through a UN adaptation finance mechanism that is responsible for oversight and delivery with a focus on the perspectives and needs of those communities that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.