Why is tiny Nauru getting $26.9m in climate finance to build a port?

Britain didn’t like the idea. Neither did Japan. France had doubts. Civil society groups were far from convinced.

The joint-funded project will upgrade
Aiwo harbour, on Nauru's western side. 

So why has tiny Nauru – best known in recent years for hosting a contentious Australian immigration detention centre in return for aid dollars – been given $26.9 million in international climate funding to build a port?

At the heart of the question is the vexed and unresolved issue of what qualifies as climate finance, and how it differs from traditional development aid.

The Nauruan project was discussed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) at a board meeting in Cairo in October after a proposal was put forward by the Asian Development Bank, which had backed it with $20.7 million grant. The Australian and Nauruan governments had committed another $17.6 million between them. But the biggest chunk was requested from the UN agency.

Read the story from Climate Home News by Adam Morton - “Why is tiny Nauru getting $26.9m in climate finance to build a port?”