TOKYO/JAKARTA -- Last November, G20 leaders in Bali hailed what they said was a transformational climate change finance deal to help wean Indonesia off coal. Nine months on, not a single dollar of the $20 billion package has been spent on actively closing down fossil fuel projects.
As the Northern Hemisphere sweats out one of the planet's hottest-ever summers, and G20 leaders prepare to gather again in India this month, the project that was supposed to provide a breakthrough model in paving the way for the developed world to assist emerging countries to reduce carbon while their economies grow remains mired in meetings on operational details.
