From Femi Mustapha, in Kaduna
A group under the auspices of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has called on developing countries to reject the proposed finance deal following the unwillingness by rich countries to increase the fund to tackle climate crisis.
ANEEJ Programme Manager, Innocent Edemhanria stated this in a statement made available to the media in Kaduna today (Saturday).
The statement said that Edemhanria who was in Baku, Azerbaijan for COP29 observed that the developed countries in in paragraph 53 of decision 1/CP.21, with developed country Parties taking the lead, to USD 250 billion per year by 2035 for developing country Parties for climate action, showing that the shows the unwillingness by the rich countries to significantly increase financing to developing countries to address climate crisis.
According to Edemhanria, “at least $1.3tn a year in climate finance by 2035 in public financing was in line with the demands submitted by most developing countries in advance of the two-week conference. But the offer of $250bn coming from rich countries is disappointing and unacceptable.”
“This is nowhere near our expectations, as frontline communities have suffered severe climate crisis, flooding, and livelihood losses. No thanks to the big polluters. This shows lack of commitment from the global north to address the climate crisis and finance the transition to renewable energy,” Edemhanria added.
‘What is required from the global north is trillions in public and grants-based finance which should be paid on time, not billions,” Edemhanria concluded.
It could be recalled that COP29 kicked off on November 11, 2024, in Baku and parties were expected to negotiate a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)—a more ambitious, transparent, and predictable climate finance target that better addresses the needs of developing countries for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage.
‘The COP was also expected to deal with the scale of funding and who takes responsibility: who contributes, and what exactly will the finance cover.
” By the morning of November 22, based on the draft finance text released, civil society groups who participated at the COP had urged developing countries to reject “a bad deal” at the UN climate talks on Friday night, after rich nations refused to increase what was largely considered an “insulting” offer of finance to help them tackle the climate crisis. “
