Climate Justice Lead at ActionAid International, Teresa Anderson has reminded African countries that adaptation, as well as addressing loss and damage could help the continent in recovering in the aftermath of climate disasters.
She said mitigation could help through transitioning to greener pathways to reduce GHGs, and this needs to be real solutions rather than false solutions. Further that UN Climate negotiations are the international framework where these aspects of Loss and Damage, Adaptation, Mitigation, Finance are governed between countries.
Currently, wealthy countries have agreed to collectively provide $100 billion/year 2020-2025 and Anderson said the amount is completely inadequate.
“A number of New financial goals need to be agreed 2025 onwards. COP29 negotiations New Collective Quantified Goal – (NCQG) is incredibly difficult. Trillions a year needed for the Global South to
pay for L&D; Adaptation; Mitigation needs to be in grants not loans," she said.
She added that however, Global North countries are still blocking progress. In her view, they are trying to keep the number down, refusing to talk real numbers; trying to count all finance flows, including banks, loans, public investments, among others as climate finance.
She added that they are also trying to “expand the contributor base” so that Global South countries are also responsible for paying climate finance.”
Anderson stated that trying to make sure that there is more investment in mitigation to protect the North than in Global South’s need for L&D and adaptation, they are often told by rich countries that increasing climate finance is not possible. But ActionAid has calculated that the Global North can in fact raise $2 trillion a year by raising taxes on the biggest corporations and wealthiest people.
She is of the view that, COP29 in Azerbaijan is going to be incredibly difficult if the Global North wants to be able to address the climate crisis and there is need to agree to an ambitious new climate finance goal. However, the world’s money flows are going in the wrong direction as more money is causing climate change than addressing it.
Debt: Global South countries are covering the cost of climate impacts, repeatedly. Spiralling costs of recovery, rebuilding, loss of income, Global South is paying hundreds of billions, possibly trillions to cope with the impacts of climate change, she said. Every time a disaster happens they are forced to take on loans to recover.
A research last year found that 93 percent of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis are in debt distress, or at risk of debt distress making it unable to invest in education, health or climate action.
“There is need to earn foreign currency to repay those debts through expanding fossil fuels and industrial agriculture which then in turn escalate the climate crisis,” she said. Anderson emphasised the need for intense pressure on Global South governments to expand fossil fuel extraction and industrial agriculture exports.
Fossil fuels have been identified as the largest cause of climate change. “It is well known that fossil fuels are the largest cause of climate change,’” she said adding that, on the other hand, it is less known that industrial agriculture is the second largest contributor of climate change.
“Deforestation, fossil-based fertilisers and pesticides; N20 and CO2 when applied to the soils also contribute to the effects of climate change,” she said.
ActionAid International Policy Adviser on Climate Justice and Corporate Advocacy, Paula Castro, highlighted that, research shows that 3.6 billion people already live in areas highly susceptible to climate change.
“Over the last decade, the poorest countries in the world have been hit by nearly eight times as many natural disasters relative to the 1980s, and as of 2023, 1.84 billion people were drought stricken, with 85 percent of people affected by droughts living in low-or middle income countries,” Castro said.
She continued that, “unchecked, climate change could cause over 200 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050”.
She said mitigation could help through transitioning to greener pathways to reduce GHGs, and this needs to be real solutions rather than false solutions. Further that UN Climate negotiations are the international framework where these aspects of Loss and Damage, Adaptation, Mitigation, Finance are governed between countries.
Currently, wealthy countries have agreed to collectively provide $100 billion/year 2020-2025 and Anderson said the amount is completely inadequate.
“A number of New financial goals need to be agreed 2025 onwards. COP29 negotiations New Collective Quantified Goal – (NCQG) is incredibly difficult. Trillions a year needed for the Global South to
pay for L&D; Adaptation; Mitigation needs to be in grants not loans," she said.
She added that however, Global North countries are still blocking progress. In her view, they are trying to keep the number down, refusing to talk real numbers; trying to count all finance flows, including banks, loans, public investments, among others as climate finance.
She added that they are also trying to “expand the contributor base” so that Global South countries are also responsible for paying climate finance.”
Anderson stated that trying to make sure that there is more investment in mitigation to protect the North than in Global South’s need for L&D and adaptation, they are often told by rich countries that increasing climate finance is not possible. But ActionAid has calculated that the Global North can in fact raise $2 trillion a year by raising taxes on the biggest corporations and wealthiest people.
She is of the view that, COP29 in Azerbaijan is going to be incredibly difficult if the Global North wants to be able to address the climate crisis and there is need to agree to an ambitious new climate finance goal. However, the world’s money flows are going in the wrong direction as more money is causing climate change than addressing it.
Debt: Global South countries are covering the cost of climate impacts, repeatedly. Spiralling costs of recovery, rebuilding, loss of income, Global South is paying hundreds of billions, possibly trillions to cope with the impacts of climate change, she said. Every time a disaster happens they are forced to take on loans to recover.
A research last year found that 93 percent of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis are in debt distress, or at risk of debt distress making it unable to invest in education, health or climate action.
“There is need to earn foreign currency to repay those debts through expanding fossil fuels and industrial agriculture which then in turn escalate the climate crisis,” she said. Anderson emphasised the need for intense pressure on Global South governments to expand fossil fuel extraction and industrial agriculture exports.
Fossil fuels have been identified as the largest cause of climate change. “It is well known that fossil fuels are the largest cause of climate change,’” she said adding that, on the other hand, it is less known that industrial agriculture is the second largest contributor of climate change.
“Deforestation, fossil-based fertilisers and pesticides; N20 and CO2 when applied to the soils also contribute to the effects of climate change,” she said.
ActionAid International Policy Adviser on Climate Justice and Corporate Advocacy, Paula Castro, highlighted that, research shows that 3.6 billion people already live in areas highly susceptible to climate change.
“Over the last decade, the poorest countries in the world have been hit by nearly eight times as many natural disasters relative to the 1980s, and as of 2023, 1.84 billion people were drought stricken, with 85 percent of people affected by droughts living in low-or middle income countries,” Castro said.
She continued that, “unchecked, climate change could cause over 200 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050”.
