CARE on EU summit in Brussels Old money in new bottles

COPENHAGEN (December 11, 2009) – ‘CARE is disappointed that the financing put forward by the EU today on short term funding is not new and additional to existing development aid. We had hoped that the EU would be a leader in Copenhagen. However all we see right now is a combination of old and new money, with no clarity on where this funding comes from’, says Sharon Moynihan, CARE’s leading policy expert on the EU. ‘There is a lack of transparency and we fear that this money will be drawn out of the aid budget. It is not fair to take money from schools and hospitals in poor countries to pay the climate bill’.

Today the EU pledged 7.2 billion Euros for short term climate change financing. ‘What the EU has committed today is only short term. But this cannot be sold as a success here. CARE wants to see a concrete sum from the EU for long-term climate change assistance. Long term finance must be part of the Copenhagen Deal’, says Sharon Moynihan.

CARE works with vulnerable communities worldwide. “It is our utmost concern that this funding for climate change reaches those people who need it most. As the text for a climate change agreement is being negotiated here in Copenhagen, world leaders must prioritize poor people and vulnerable communities,” Moynihan states.

For further information or interviews, please contact CARE Media Coordinators:
Marie Sisse Brown: +45 53 72 72 40, [email protected]
Sandra Bulling: + 45 53 11 26 44, [email protected]

CARE is a leading aid organisation with more than 60 years’ experience fighting global poverty and delivering emergency assistance. In 72 countries, CARE works with the poorest communities to improve basic health and education, enhance rural livelihoods and food security, increase access to clean water and sanitation, and expand economic opportunity. Our long-term development assistance and emergency relief initiatives are currently benefiting about 55 million people around the world. In response to the growing crisis, CARE is helping the most world’s most vulnerable communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.