Never ever before has the need for increased ambition on climate change been clearer. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts tremendous risks to livelihoods, biodiversity, human and ecosystem health, infrastructure, water resources and food systems due to additional stresses on land. In the poorest and most marginalized communities, these impacts are already making life more precarious for millions of people. In 2018, world hunger and malnutrition rose for the third year in a row, severely impacting people in rainfall-dependent agrarian countries.
In 2015, Canada pledged $2.65 billion over five years, reaching $800 million annually by 2020-2021. In 2020, as Canada prepares to release its next five-year climate finance package, Canada needs to ensure investments are commensurate with its relative wealth and global responsibility and aligned with existing commitments to domestic and international policies, which prioritize gender equality, adaptation, and support for the most vulnerable.