African nations demand climate change financing ahead of COP27

The African continent emits just some 3 p.c of world CO2 emissions, but is amongst most uncovered to local weather change.

The leaders of two dozen African international locations have urged wealthier nations to uphold their support pledges so the continent can sort out local weather change impacts for which it shares little blame.

African minister made their name in a communique on the shut of a three-day discussion board within the Egyptian capital Cairo on Friday and two months earlier than Egypt hosts the essential COP27 local weather convention in Sharm El-Sheikh in November.

We urge “developed international locations to fulfil their pledges in relation to local weather and improvement finance, and ship on their commitments to double adaptation finance, particularly to Africa,” the 24 leaders mentioned in a closing assertion.

The African continent emits just some 3 p.c of world CO2 emissions, former UN chief Ban Ki-moon famous this week.

And but African nations are amongst these most uncovered to the influence of local weather change, notably worsening droughts and floods.

The African leaders mentioned the monetary support was wanted in view of “the disproportionate influence of local weather change and nature loss on the African continent”.

Africa not solely has a “low carbon footprint”, they mentioned, however it additionally performs a key function in capturing greenhouse gases, together with within the Congo Basin, which is residence to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon.

‘Abrupt disinvestments from fossil fuels’

The communique urged wealthy international locations to satisfy and develop local weather pledges, and mentioned poor international locations ought to be capable to develop economically whereas receiving extra funds to adapt to the influence of local weather change.

The doc careworn “the necessity to keep away from approaches that encourage abrupt disinvestments from fossil fuels, as it will… threaten Africa’s improvement”.

The function of fuel within the transition to cleaner power is about to be a key level of competition at COP27. Local weather activists say it must be shortly phased out and changed with renewables.

However, Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed instructed the Cairo discussion board that fuel was a matter of survival for her nation.

“If we’re not getting cheap finance to develop fuel, we’re denying the residents in our international locations the alternatives to realize primary improvement,” she mentioned.

The communique additionally known as for specializing in local weather change in a assessment of multilateral improvement banks and worldwide monetary establishments. It urged the creation of a sustainable sovereign debt hub that would cut back the price of capital for growing states and assist debt-for-nature swaps.

Funding to assist poorer international locations curb their emissions and strengthen their resilience can be a key problem at COP27.

A longstanding objective for developed international locations to spend $100bn a 12 months from 2020 on serving to susceptible nations adapt to local weather change stays unmet.

In response to the African Improvement Financial institution, the continent will want as a lot as $1.6 trillion between 2020 and 2030 for its personal efforts to restrict local weather change and to adapt to the antagonistic results which can be already obvious.

Kevin Chika Urama, chief economist on the African Improvement Financial institution, mentioned Africa confronted a local weather financing hole of about $108bn annually.

“Local weather finance construction at this time is definitely biased towards climate-vulnerable international locations. The extra susceptible you’re the much less local weather finance you obtain,” he mentioned.