The European Union will not be making new climate finance commitments at the upcoming COP31 conference, climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said, as quoted by Bloomberg today, describing the possibility of further financial commitments for emission reduction as “dead in the water”.
The European Union has been the most generous climate finance provider globally for several years, but money has been tight lately, with other developments stealing the spotlight from emissions of carbon dioxide. With soaring fuel prices, equally soaring gas prices and a shortage of refining capacity, the EU’s most pressing problems have ironically swung to hydrocarbons—and solving them also requires heavy spending in the form of direct subsidies and tax cuts to cushion the blow.
According to Bloomberg, there is also a growing feeling among EU officials that other wealthy countries are not pulling their weight when it comes to climate finance. The EU and its member states provided €32.3 billion (around $36 billion) in public climate finance to developing countries in 2025, up roughly €600 million from 2024, according to official EU data. The funding supports efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
A lot of that money has gone into support for countries in Africa and Asia to shift from hydrocarbons to wind and solar, as they lack the funds to afford the transition on their own. However, this approach by wealthy Western states has prompted a response that amounts to governments of poorer countries presenting their donors with an either/or situation: either the West gives them the money for the transition, or there will be no transition.
Indeed, in a recent letter to the UN’s climate chief Simon Stiell, a group of African countries said they would be demanding a tripling of climate adaptation finance commitments at the COP31. The demands are expected to cause a stir at the climate conference that begins in Turkey on November 9.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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