Inaugural UN green climate fund meeting finally scheduled

Coming five months later than originally planned, the first board meeting of the UN's Green Climate Fund (GCF) is scheduled for August 23-25, according to Reuters.

The board's first meeting will be held in Geneva, Switzerland and plans to hammer out details of its operation and structure. But it will not be handing out cash, since while the original idea was to channel USD100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries adapt to climate change, failed talks at the UN's climate talks means its coffers are empty.

The new panel will decide on the fund's base country but also consider a range of fund-raising options. These are expected to include international levies on aviation and shipping emissions, as well as an expansion of the global carbon market.

It will also try and bridge the funding gap, in particular USD30 billion of fast start funding promised at the 2009 Copenhagen Summit.

The current recession has made the donor countries, primarily North America and the EU, less willing to contribute. However, according to Reuters, that has not been the main cause of the board's delayed inaugural meeting.

Countries have disagreed over who should be on the fund's board, causing three meetings to be missed. The board will have 24 members and 24 alternatives coming equally from both developing and developed countries.

The first delay was because European Union countries disagreed over how to allocate its seats its own members. The second two delays was because Asia, Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean regions could not agree on their nominations.