Pacific finance needs top $2b as storms hit, seas rise

The Catholic Church’s aid agency highlights the urgent need for Pacific Island nations to receive $US1.5 billion annually for climate finance, with a $US1 billion gap in funding. Caritas Oceania emphasizes the importance of providing grants, not loans, to help these nations address debt distress and increasing climate disasters, urging for increased transparency and accurate assessment of sovereign debt crises. Advocates, including Caritas Australia and the World Wide Fund for Nature, call for at least $US1 trillion per year in public finance to support mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage efforts, with Ministerial Pair for the UN’s New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance playing a key role in addressing these critical needs at COP29.

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