Reaction to the close of UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany

On the shape of the new 2015 climate agreement being negotiated this week, Tracy Carty, Oxfam Climate Change Policy Adviser, said:

“Countries can’t just set goals on their own – this is a recipe for free riders and a race to the bottom, and has proved totally incapable of keeping rising global temperatures within a safe threshold or addressing climate change’s numerous threats.

“This week’s talks have opened the door on the debate over equity in climate action. Support is growing for an approach that puts fairness in how responsibility can be shared between countries at its heart.

“Climate finance has the potential to make or break the 2015 deal, yet it is still in no man’s land. Despite the commitment to mobilise $100bn per year by 2020, we have had no more clarity this week on who is providing what nor do we have certainty that finance will go up in line with this promise.

“Developing countries are facing escalating climate impacts and the livelihoods, food security and survival of millions of people are at stake because of a climate crisis they did not create. Developed countries should not be coming back to this process empty handed and need to take urgent steps to plug the climate finance gap."