Latest News

Bloomberg reports that the US has delayed a $2.6 billion climate financing package for South Africa.

Bloomberg reports that the US has delayed a $2.6 billion climate financing package for South Africa.

Bloomberg News reported Thursday that the United States has delayed the payment of $2.6 billion to South Africa in climate finance, raising fears the funds may be completely withheld. This is according to people familiar with this situation.

The report said that earlier this month, U.S. officials prevented the World Bank's Climate Investment Funds from approving the disbursement of $500 million to South Africa.

The report stated that the funding would unlock $2.1 billion in additional financing from multilateral banks, other financial sources, and could be approved at the CIF meetings scheduled for June.

CIF is a multilateral fund that is among the largest in the world. Its goal? To scale up climate solutions for developing countries.

The move, if confirmed, would be one of several actions taken by the former administration of President Donald Trump to reduce participation in multilateral climate agreements.

The United States withdrew in March from the board for the United Nations climate damage fund. This fund supports nations that are vulnerable to climate-related disasters.

The U.S. Treasury or the CIF have not responded to our requests for comments. Reporting by Surbhi Misra, Bengaluru. Editing by Louise Heavens & Tomaszjanowski

(source: Reuters)