Writing in Progress magazine today, Publish What You Fund’s Federico Pirzio-Biroli warns that there is a real risk that donor countries will get away with this accounting slight of hand at Climate Change talks in Copenhagen unless a transparency measure is included in a climate financing deal. The poverty advocacy group ONE has launched a last ditch attempt to stop aid money being ‘double counted’. Their petition will be handed to the Danish host of the conference next week and asks:

The new head of USAID, Rajiv Shah, will meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday to provide answers to list of questions regarding the future activities of the organisation.

Shah wrote that he believes USAID needs the capacity to plan budgetary requirements and monitor and evaluate performance, a reference to the restoration of an intellectual brain trust inside the agency following the gutting of such capabilities under the Bush administration.

Many leaders are promising to help people living in extreme poverty adapt to the effects of climate change. This sounds great, but unfortunately, on closer examination, it turns out most of this money could be double counted – it’s money that has already been promised as development aid. This double counting is dangerous as it undermines both sustainable international development and a good global deal on climate change.

To sign the petition, click here

Beth Noveck, the Director of the White House Open Government Initiative, was interviewed by Tom O’Reilly about the current administration’s transparency, and participatory and collaborative government initiatives.

To see the interview and read a summary, click here