Climate aid driving up public debt of poorest countries by billions of pounds each year

Bishar Maalim Mohammed, 60, stands among a cluster of goat carcasses outside his homestead in drought-hit northeastern Kenya earlier this year. There are growing calls for much more grant-based climate aid to support countries like Kenya as climate impacts intensify - (AFP/Getty)

The system for distributing climate aid from rich countries is leaving some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries struggling to access finance – while piling billions onto the public debt of a significant number of nations, new analysis by The Independent shows.

Data from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), shows the value of “climate-related development finance” – money from governments and development institutions such as the World Bank – has hovered around the $140 billion (£106bn) mark for each of the last three years for which data is available.