For the world to achieve the Paris agreement goals, climate finance which has been a contentious issue under climate negotiations, is critical. Also, implementing national commitments or NDC’s is essential.
Negotiators have been discussing long-term finance and the common time frame by which NDC’s communicated by countries must be implemented.
Climate finance plays a critical role in supporting developing countries to address climate change. As temperatures rise, climate impacts will exacerbate recurring and devastating floods, droughts, and cyclones already heavily impacting communities social-economically, mentally not to mention ecosystem degradation and economies.
African countries already spending between two to nine percent of their GDP require the finance to adapt to the changing climate, avoid further emissions, and recover from loss and damage.
Historically, rich nations are responsible for increased emissions due to their development paths using dirty fuels like coal. Under the climate convention and the Paris agreement, rich nations must provide developing nations with climate finance.
During COP15 in Copenhagen – 12 years ago – developed nations promised to mobilise USD100 billion annually by 2020 to help developed countries meet their adaptation and mitigation goals; however, during COP26 in Glasgow, this promise has been pushed to 2023.
The world needs to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030 compared with 2010 levels to reach net-zero by 2050. The UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has again called on developed countries to submit concrete and ambitious commitments to build a truly global coalition for carbon neutrality, for global net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050. Already, developed countries are experiencing
Today, where are we on Climate finance and NDC timeframes? Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, a former African Group of Negotiators Chair (AGN) and the current lead negotiator on finance, explains where negotiations are on finance. Later on, Kassim Gawusu Toure, a climate activist and a junior negotiator with the AGN, will explain common time frames under NDC’s, what Africa is pushing for, and why.