Dutch government discloses climate spending – but it could be clearer
Financial support that wealthy countries provide to poorer countries in order to help them combat climate change and the associated emissions was the central topic of this year's UN Climate Change Conference in Baku. Annemarie Drahmann, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, discussed this with Dutch daily newspaper ‘Trouw’.
On the website of the Dutch government, the two ministries responsible clearly disclose how the Netherlands is spending the €925 million allocated to climate funding.
Dr Drahmann believes that ‘climate funding is reasonably transparent’. While she does view the public disclosure of how this funding is spent as a positive development, she wonders whether the information is clear and accessible enough. The documents posted on the website contain legal jargon, which may cause interested citizens to stop reading. Dr Drahmann argues that if the Dutch government wants to enhance support for climate policy, it could inform its citizens about climate spending in a more accessible way. Especially if spending increases significantly following the Baku summit.
More information
Read the full Trouw article here (in Dutch)
Photo: Marcin Jozwia through Unsplash