Canada, Germany pushing wealthy countries for more climate money

Canada and Germany are making 'a lot of progress' convincing rich countries around the world to pony up more cash to help the developing world fight climate change, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Friday.

The Canadian environment minister is in Italy this week for the final set-up talks to establish the agenda for the 2021 United Nations climate conference in Scotland next month, known as COP26.

The talks include a deadline for countries that signed onto the Paris climate agreement to show more ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, with time running out to slow climate change before it becomes irreversible.

But it's equally critical to have the funds to actually implement those plans.

More than 10 years ago, the wealthiest nations agreed to collectively raise US$100 billion a year in climate financing by 2020 so developing countries could afford to both adapt to and mitigate against climate change.