Africa's climate finance plea: Ministers face pressure to deliver at COP29

Inside the vibrant Baku Stadium in Azerbaijan, the atmosphere is charged with anticipation as the focus shifts to the ministers of Environment, who now hold the ball in their court, to move COP29 to the finish line. Meanwhile, the negotiators, now benched, remain engaged as key advisors, contributing valuable insights from the bench.

It is now the half-time mark of this crucial conference, with only a few days remaining before it draws to a close. African delegates, keenly observing the negotiations, express their disappointment as they see little movement on their most pressing request: securing climate finance to support urgent climate action on the continent.

Also read: https://nation.africa/kenya/health/dummy-s-guide-to-cop29-talks-on-global-warming--4827420

A palpable sense of pessimism fills the air, yet the spirit of hope persists. Much like a thrilling football match, the possibility of a breakthrough agreement remains until the referee's final whistle is blown at the end of the week. The stakes are high, and the eyes of the world are watching closely as leaders aim to shape the future of global climate policy.

The ministers now carry this hope, and in an afternoon closed-door meeting with ministers from Africa on Sunday, the Africa Group of Negotiators Chairman Ali Mohamed reminded them to 'fight on'.

"Africa is not happy, but we won't lose hope," he said.

In an exclusive interview with Nation after the Sunday African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) meeting, Kenya's Environment Permanent Secretary, Dr Festus Ng'eno, said only ministers can save the day.

"The African Group of Negotiators are still pushing for the 1.3 trillion dollars, but as we end this week and begin a new one, the ministers will have a lot of work to do since there has been no comprehensive agreement on any of the various agenda items on finance," he told the Nation.

"We call upon all ministers from the African Group to be able to take charge and make progress for us to get climate finance. Based on the reports coming from the lead negotiators, we have made very insignificant progress," he added.

In a press conference on Monday morning, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil straight from Baku, reminded the G20 countries who position themselves as global leaders to simply walk the talk.

"I will appeal to the sense of responsibility of all G20 countries. Now is the time for leadership by example from the world's largest economies and emitters. Failure is not an option," he said.

Unlike last year, when countries pledged funds for Loss and Damage in the first week, this year has been quite sluggish.

The Loss and Damage fund is a kitty that caters for the impacts of climate change that could not be adapted to or mitigated, leading to economic and non-economic losses such as destroyed infrastructure and crops, and loss of lives and livelihoods.

It is at the Dubai COP that the Loss and Damage fund was officially operationalized. Countries pledged at least USD 700 million before the end of COP28. Civil societies attending COP29 insist that more should be done on financing Loss and Damage.

"The bubble of hope to get the Loss and Damage Fund up and running has burst. We are pretty much where we were last year when the Fund was operationalised: it is there but countries' pledges are thousands of times below what is needed," said – Obed Koringo, a climate policy advisor, in a press statement by Care International.

"As we kick off the second week, we urge developed countries to scale up their commitments and pledge meaningful funding to meet the needs of climate-vulnerable communities. The new quantum must include a sub-goal on Loss and Damage to secure new, additional, and adequate resources to ever-growing challenges," he added.

In a statement made by the AGN chair, Mr Mohamed, on behalf of Kenya and Africa, said that while Africa is happy with the strides made towards the Loss and Damage fund so far, there is still more that can be done.

"We call for swift action to establish a replenishment process, ensuring resources are timely, adequate and transparent," he said on Monday afternoon.

"Africa holds immense potential for climate action, from abundant renewable energy resources to vast natural carbon sinks. However, unlocking this potential requires addressing key barriers: Resource Constraints, Energy Access Gaps, and Structural Vulnerabilities," he added.

Even as countries are still dilly-dallying on climate finance, global temperatures continue to soar, and their impacts are felt by human beings around the world.

Earlier this year, hundreds of Kenyans lost their lives in floods linked to El Niño, whose intensity, scientists say, keeps worsening because of climate change.

"El Niño conditions during the second half of 2023 contributed to a record warm year and exacerbated many extreme events. This is combined with rising temperatures and more frequent and extreme hazards due to human-induced climate change," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in May.

In the first week of the COP, Climate and Health proponents called for an update of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to squeeze in Health as part of their goals under the Paris Agreement.

All countries that signed the Paris Agreement, including Kenya, are expected to update their NDCs –which are set goals by countries aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, in 2025.

"To protect populations from catastrophic impacts of climate change, NDCs must be aligned to the 1.5 degrees Celsius target of the Paris Agreement, also taking into account fair shares based on historical emissions and national wealth," said Jess Beagley, Policy Lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance.

A commentary written by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) scientists published in the journal BMJ Global Health shows that climate change directly and indirectly impacts our public health system.

"Infectious diseases are increasing in their outbreak frequency and severity and expanding their geographical presence," say the scientists.

A new study on dengue released this weekend conducted in the Americas and Asia also proves a correlation on climate change and health.

"We looked at data on dengue incidence and climate variation across 21 countries in Asia and the Americas and found that there is a clear and direct relationship between rising temperatures and rising infections," said Dr Erin Mordecai, an infectious disease ecologist at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment and the study's lead author.

"It is evident that climate change already has become a significant threat to human health and, for dengue in particular, our data suggests the impact could get much worse," he added.

As we usher in the final week, one thing that was hailed by the Azerbaijan-led presidency was the establishment of an international carbon markets standard, but the document still needs some polishing this week.

However, not everyone is happy about the carbon markets agenda. Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa calls this move 'a dangerous distraction'.

"The goal of the climate process is to get to zero emissions by drastically decarbonising our economies and energy systems in the spirit and ambition of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Carbon credits will only take us farther from this goal," he tells the Nation.

"Africa has been demanding finance to be able to provide energy access to more than 600 million Africans who live in acute energy poverty. The developed world has so far failed to provide the resources needed for this energy transition," he adds.

He says that when corporations turn to carbon credits, they backtrack on the commitment to cut emissions by permitting pollution.

"To expect Africans to bear the burden of offsetting emissions produced by developed countries through carbon credits is a continuation of the historical negligence and extraction of vulnerable countries by these nations," he says.

Leading climate experts, including the former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, sent a letter to the UN at the tail end of week one, saying the COP no longer serves its purpose.

The decision that comes at the end of this week will either vindicate the letter or absolve it. The players taking charge during this second half of COP29 will write history, and we can only wait for the 90th minute.

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