Baku, Azerbaijan
African environment activists, including those from Ugandan, are disgruntled with the slow progress of the climate finance negotiations.
More than 60,000 delegates from around the world are gathered in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss and agree on a new finance target that would allow developing countries to transition to renewable energy, adapt to climate, and pay for loss and damage.
With a week left for the summit, there are substantive disagreements among the various parties on how much is needed, who has to pay for it, and what the money should be spent on.
As the talks advance, parties are pointing fingers at one another. African activists say it is a delaying tactic by developed countries’ negotiators to try to frustrate the key discussions on climate finance and the demands of developing nations.
At a protest staged on Friday, November 15, at the venue of the ongoing talks, protesters chanted: “Grants Not Loans, Climate Finance in Trillions not Billions, Invest In Adaptation Not Carbon Market.”
Discussions about climate finance at the UN Climate talks have often faced challenges due to differing perspectives between developed and developing countries.
Many developed countries prefer borrowing funds to developing nations to address climate change while developing countries are advocating for grants, not loans.
It is estimated that over two trillion dollars will be necessary to effectively combat climate change by 2030. However, the current funding available is only a fraction of what is needed, according to various nongovernmental organisations.
Additionally, developed nations tend to focus their funding on mitigation projects rather than adaptation efforts, which is a priority for many African countries.
At the ongoing talks, African activists have demanded urgent action to address the climate crisis affecting developing countries in many ways. Yet, they contribute too little to global emissions.
“It’s time for Africa to take the lead in the negotiations, and developed countries must listen to our demands and act upon them because we are helping them as much as they think they are doing us a favour,” they shouted.
Elevating Voices of Climate Change Victims
One of the groups leading Friday’s protest at the COP was the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), a Kenyan-based consortium of over 2,000 African organisations fighting to advance fair, equitable, ecologically just, and locally-led climate action.
Eugene Fongwa, PACJA’s Thematic Lead for Just Transition and Energy Access led the protest.
“Regarding the work that we are doing in the negotiation rooms and the side events, we (African countries) have a feeling that the voice of Africa is being drowned by the delays and the false solutions that are being offered here at COP29,” he said during the protest.
According to Fongwa, they needed to step out of the formal processes and hold the protest. First, to elevate the concerns of millions of African people who are suffering the impacts of climate change unjustly.
“Millions of people who are victims of droughts, floods, those who are losing their property, those who are dying. So, this protest was to elevate the voices of these people,” he added.
Fongwa explained that they needed to create a narrative that was fit for Africa within the COP negotiations, primarily prioritising adaptation, which often has been set to the sidelines of the conversation, yet it protects African people from the adverse impacts of climate change.
Protest organisers argue that based on estimates from the National Adaptation Plans and the Nationally Determined Contributions of all African countries, the requirement to protect African communities from climate change impact adequately is more than a trillion dollars.
“But so far on the table, even the hundred million dollars, billion dollars that developed countries promise has not yet come. So, we think that it’s important that our voices are heard, that the needs of African people are on the table, and that the specific concerns of Africa are mainstreamed into the negotiations,” Fongwa argued.
Asked whether the talks are still relevant, Fongwa said it remains a vital space where debates and discussions are always relevant. “It’s not because we are disagreeing that we stop talking. In fact, the reason we need to keep talking is because we are disagreeing,” he explained.
He noted the relevance of COP as a means of maintaining the momentum, keeping the debate, and keeping the issues alive. “What we hope for is that we transcend this phase of talking and negotiation and see some implementation and action on the ground,” he stated.
Gender Issues, call
Zandisile Roseanne Howe, a female youth activist from the Climate and Sustainable Development Network in Eswatini, stressed the need for climate justice for African women and girls, saying they are the most affected by the climate crisis. She added that their delegation came to Baku to push for a significant increase in adaptation finance.
“We need to enhance access of funds from multilateral institutions to civil society and other non-state actors to strengthen accountability and transparency,” said Howe, adding that with states and non-state actors implementing climate change programs for accountable climate action.
The activist further called on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to urgently introduce and monitor the enforcement of policies, laws, and programs by developed and highly emitting countries to reduce emissions in line with 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In Africa, she added, the front lines of the impacts of climate change are women and girls, according to Howe. And this is because these are the segments of the population that are involved in sectors that are very sensitive to climatic change, like agriculture.
“It is one of the reasons why we came here is to push for the inclusion of African women’s voices in the negotiations and have decisions that are not only fit for Africa but also can address the issues that are most pertinent to the continent,” Howe said.
Call For Uganda’s Intervention
Yisito Kayinga Muddu, the Community Foundation Network Foundation (COTFONE) – National Coordinator, also an observer at the COP29, appealed to the policymakers of Uganda to stand up and make the policy choices that are needed to address the climate crisis but also hold their counterparts in the Global north accountable for the harm that they are causing to the people in poor countries.
According to Kayinga, the African negotiating table needs to step up its negotiation tactics and maintain a strong position on the demands of the African countries.
However, according to a reliable source within the organising team, the protest is expected to resume on Monday during the second week of the climate negotiations.
G77 and China Rejects Draft Paper
On Tuesday, the G77 and China, which comprise around 130 developing countries, with Uganda holding its Chairmanship, rejected the key proposal for a new climate finance goal.
This document by the United Nations is meant to guide key decisions on the amount of funds wealthy countries should pay to developing nations in their climate campaign.
According to the G77 bloc, the unfair draft deliberately ignores their input and doesn’t attempt to address their key needs as it is supposed to.
The G77 demands $1.3tn each year to enable developing countries to adapt to the worsening climate crisis and reduce emissions.
According to G77, things like loans and export credits should be left out. However, they requested a revised draft before the next round of talks.
This story was produced as part of the 2024 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organised by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
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