Jonathan Beynon
@jonathanbeynon.bsky.social
Climate and development economist. Now at Center for Global Development (@cgdev.org).
Motto: Big Heart, Hard Head (at least, I try).
Views: my own
Motto: Big Heart, Hard Head (at least, I try).
Views: my own
If you thought that climate change was all the fault of 'developed' countries, think again! That's NOT what data on GHG emissions since 1850 actually suggests. Old distinctions between developed and developing countries are no longer fit for purpose. Time to move on.
www.cgdev.org/blog/emissio...
www.cgdev.org/blog/emissio...
Emissions Myth-Buster: We All Know That Developed Countries Are Responsible for Climate Change, Right? Wrong!
The belief that developed countries are primarily responsible for climate change runs deep. UNFCCC climate negotiations—which have been characterized by deep divisions between “developed” and “develop...
www.cgdev.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM
If you thought that climate change was all the fault of 'developed' countries, think again! That's NOT what data on GHG emissions since 1850 actually suggests. Old distinctions between developed and developing countries are no longer fit for purpose. Time to move on.
www.cgdev.org/blog/emissio...
www.cgdev.org/blog/emissio...
Really striking that SIDS get so much more adaptation finance per head than LDCs (indeed, than anyone), yet overall are less vulnerable. More adaptation needs to be focused on LDCs, with different help for SIDS. But SIDS may have much stronger claim on loss and damage finance.
Ahead of #COP30, @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social compares five major climate vulnerability indices—finding wildly different results.
All agree least developed countries are most at risk, while small island states often get more attention. Time to rethink adaptation finance?
https://go.cgdev.org/4hV7v88
All agree least developed countries are most at risk, while small island states often get more attention. Time to rethink adaptation finance?
https://go.cgdev.org/4hV7v88
Who’s Really Most Vulnerable to Climate Change? SIDS, LDCs, and Adaptation Finance
As the world gears up for what’s being billed as the “adaptation COP,” attention will again focus on the needs and priorities of those “particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change...
go.cgdev.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Really striking that SIDS get so much more adaptation finance per head than LDCs (indeed, than anyone), yet overall are less vulnerable. More adaptation needs to be focused on LDCs, with different help for SIDS. But SIDS may have much stronger claim on loss and damage finance.
Indeed. Our own work on 'fair shares' very relevant here. Old divisions between 'developed' and 'developing' make no sense any more
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
July 28, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Indeed. Our own work on 'fair shares' very relevant here. Old divisions between 'developed' and 'developing' make no sense any more
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
This is MASSIVE!
NEW – ICJ: What the world court’s landmark opinion means for climate change | @daisydunne.carbonbrief.org @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social @mollylempriere.carbonbrief.org
💬 w/ comment from Danilo B. Garrido Alves, Joy Reyes, Prof Viñuales, Dr Maria Antonia Tigre, Harj Narulla, Dr Bill Hare
Read here:
💬 w/ comment from Danilo B. Garrido Alves, Joy Reyes, Prof Viñuales, Dr Maria Antonia Tigre, Harj Narulla, Dr Bill Hare
Read here:
ICJ: What the world court’s landmark opinion means for climate change - Carbon Brief
Carbon Brief explains the most important aspects of the ICJ’s 133-page advisory opinion and speaks to legal experts about its implications.
buff.ly
July 28, 2025 at 11:20 AM
This is MASSIVE!
Reposted by Jonathan Beynon
Climate finance debates often focus on who pays & how much, but @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social & @ianmitchell1.bsky.social argue that quality matters too.
They explore how the UK reports the results of its int'l climate finance, & what it reveals about effectiveness 👇
https://buff.ly/416hM9q
They explore how the UK reports the results of its int'l climate finance, & what it reveals about effectiveness 👇
https://buff.ly/416hM9q
February 24, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Climate finance debates often focus on who pays & how much, but @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social & @ianmitchell1.bsky.social argue that quality matters too.
They explore how the UK reports the results of its int'l climate finance, & what it reveals about effectiveness 👇
https://buff.ly/416hM9q
They explore how the UK reports the results of its int'l climate finance, & what it reveals about effectiveness 👇
https://buff.ly/416hM9q
The scale of income and especially wealth inequality is literally stratospheric. Things look challenging, but now is not the time to give up trying to agree and implement a minimum tax on the world’s richest.
www.cgdev.org/blog/pens-pa...
www.cgdev.org/blog/pens-pa...
Pen’s Parade: The Stratospheric Heights of Inequality
Pen’s Parade looks even more extreme than when it was first illustrated in 1971. The highest paid CEOs are paid close to $200 million. Some sportstars are paid even more: Christiano Ronaldo tops the t...
www.cgdev.org
February 11, 2025 at 11:06 AM
The scale of income and especially wealth inequality is literally stratospheric. Things look challenging, but now is not the time to give up trying to agree and implement a minimum tax on the world’s richest.
www.cgdev.org/blog/pens-pa...
www.cgdev.org/blog/pens-pa...
Reposted by Jonathan Beynon
Now that governments at #COP29 agreed the #NCQG, which sets out future goals for international climate finance, the focus turns to how they will be delivered.
Here are my thoughts, featuring more MS Paint graphics that I know @ed-king.bsky.social loves so much:
www.nrdc.org/bio/joe-thwa...
Here are my thoughts, featuring more MS Paint graphics that I know @ed-king.bsky.social loves so much:
www.nrdc.org/bio/joe-thwa...
November 27, 2024 at 9:10 PM
Now that governments at #COP29 agreed the #NCQG, which sets out future goals for international climate finance, the focus turns to how they will be delivered.
Here are my thoughts, featuring more MS Paint graphics that I know @ed-king.bsky.social loves so much:
www.nrdc.org/bio/joe-thwa...
Here are my thoughts, featuring more MS Paint graphics that I know @ed-king.bsky.social loves so much:
www.nrdc.org/bio/joe-thwa...
Reposted by Jonathan Beynon
🚨New paper! 🚨(well, to Bluesky)
Making Migration Work for Adaptation: Classifying Remittances as Climate Finance
An exciting paper that we hope might make a difference (esp. after NCQG).
Huge thanks to co-author @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social & to all who reviewed/shared comments.
Thread below! 1/
Making Migration Work for Adaptation: Classifying Remittances as Climate Finance
An exciting paper that we hope might make a difference (esp. after NCQG).
Huge thanks to co-author @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social & to all who reviewed/shared comments.
Thread below! 1/
November 27, 2024 at 9:42 AM
🚨New paper! 🚨(well, to Bluesky)
Making Migration Work for Adaptation: Classifying Remittances as Climate Finance
An exciting paper that we hope might make a difference (esp. after NCQG).
Huge thanks to co-author @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social & to all who reviewed/shared comments.
Thread below! 1/
Making Migration Work for Adaptation: Classifying Remittances as Climate Finance
An exciting paper that we hope might make a difference (esp. after NCQG).
Huge thanks to co-author @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social & to all who reviewed/shared comments.
Thread below! 1/
Reposted by Jonathan Beynon
Obsessing over quantity and forgetting quality of climate finance is the Baku COP’s biggest failure. Not that $300bn is too low to meet demands for action and justice (though that’s true). It’s that the world’s poorest & least responsible for climate change will be robbed by it.
November 24, 2024 at 2:41 PM
Obsessing over quantity and forgetting quality of climate finance is the Baku COP’s biggest failure. Not that $300bn is too low to meet demands for action and justice (though that’s true). It’s that the world’s poorest & least responsible for climate change will be robbed by it.
Indeed. It’s insufficient, ill-defined, with no public finance target, no grant equivalent figure, and no refs to additionality or burden sharing. So much for learning lessons of the $100bn goal!
My take on the #COP29 climate finance goal (#NCQG); based on our model.
It will require barely any additional effort from providers and creates a greater risk of diverting funds from existing development finance
@fionaharvey.bsky.social @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social @kenzabryan.bsky.social
It will require barely any additional effort from providers and creates a greater risk of diverting funds from existing development finance
@fionaharvey.bsky.social @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social @kenzabryan.bsky.social
November 24, 2024 at 12:47 AM
Indeed. It’s insufficient, ill-defined, with no public finance target, no grant equivalent figure, and no refs to additionality or burden sharing. So much for learning lessons of the $100bn goal!
Just reinforces point that $250bn by 2035 is unambitious and woefully inadequate
For those negotiating in Baku on the #NCQG climate finance goal
@edwickstead.bsky.social and I have calculated two new scenarios in our @cgdev.bsky.social model of baselines relating to multilateral development banks and the latest negotiating text
1/5
@edwickstead.bsky.social and I have calculated two new scenarios in our @cgdev.bsky.social model of baselines relating to multilateral development banks and the latest negotiating text
1/5
November 22, 2024 at 10:52 PM
Just reinforces point that $250bn by 2035 is unambitious and woefully inadequate
Re #NCQG. Disappointing. No refs to new and additional. No refs to grant equivalence. Refs to additional contributions from developing countries are important (their emissions are now >50% of all GHG emissions since 1850). But developed countries simply must commit more.
NEW TEXTS DROPPED AT #COP29
* NCQG: Draft finance target of $250bn
* UAE dialogue: clear ref to GST para 28
* UAE dialogue: Options on taking GST fwd
* MWP: GST remains absent
www.carbonbrief.org/...
1/3
* NCQG: Draft finance target of $250bn
* UAE dialogue: clear ref to GST para 28
* UAE dialogue: Options on taking GST fwd
* MWP: GST remains absent
www.carbonbrief.org/...
1/3
November 22, 2024 at 11:59 AM
Re #NCQG. Disappointing. No refs to new and additional. No refs to grant equivalence. Refs to additional contributions from developing countries are important (their emissions are now >50% of all GHG emissions since 1850). But developed countries simply must commit more.
Farewell X, ELO Mr Blue Sky!
November 21, 2024 at 3:34 PM
Farewell X, ELO Mr Blue Sky!