Many governments are yet to set targets, leaving recipient countries struggling to plan and attract private investment

Developing countries have been left in limbo by the failure of some of the world’s biggest economies to flesh out their plans for new climate finance.

Poor countries are supposed to receive $300bn a year from the governments of industrialised nations by 2035, along with about $1tn from other sources, to help them cope with the effects of extreme weather and shift to a low-carbon future.

But many rich governments have not yet set out their targets and plans for providing climate finance beyond the end of this year or next. This gap is damaging because it means recipient countries cannot plan and makes it harder for them to attract private sector investment to supplement the public sector money.