By Progress Godfrey Abuja
Ahead of the 29th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC) Conference of Parties (COP), the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), and other Climate Justice Crusaders across the world have called for a down payment of $5 Trillion annually to the Global South to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Executive Director of CAPPA, Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi made this call in his welcome remark at the 3rd National Climate Change Conference 2024, with the theme: “Channeling Action Towards Just, Sustainable Climate Finance’’, held in Abuja on Monday.
Oluwafemi said the call became necessary to change the narrative as Nigeria, Africa, and the Global South suffer the most loss to climate crisis while contributing the least to global emissions.
According to him, data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), suggests that global investments in climate change of up to $210 billion will be needed by 2030 to meet the set target for greenhouse gas emissions.
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To achieve the $5 trillion payment, Oluwafemi said the private sector is expected to contribute its quota.
He said, “Nigeria, Africa, and the rest of the Global South are bearing the biggest brunt of climate crisis despite their insignificant contributions to global emissions, what remains worrisome is the unbothered disposition of polluters, and the Global North, in their deliberate refusal to accept historical liabilities, commit to reparatory justice through progressive and sustainable grants and not loans, for climate change financing.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that global investment and financial flows of $200–210 billion will be needed by 2030 to meet the global greenhouse gas emission target of below 1.5 degrees set in the Paris Agreement. Africa will need a significant amount of the funds to adapt to climate change and limit the impact of the warming. It is estimated that the region will need an average of $250 billion per year in climate finance between 2020 and 2030 against the paltry sum of $30 billion it received in 2020, which is about 12% of the amount needed.
“Additionally, the private sector is also expected to help in the mobilization of $213.4 billion annually with Multilateral Development Banks deploying more than $10 billion to bridge the financing gap. Though minimal compared to the quantum of devastations caused by climate crises in the region including Nigeria, not up to 20% of the said funds have been raised.
“Climate activists and rights movements across the world including the Demand for Climate Justice (DCJ), Climate Action Network (CAN), and Africa Make Big Polluters Pay (MBPP) have called for the declaration of a state of emergency on climate financing with an initial demand of $5 trillion in climate finance annually in the next five years as a down payment to the Global South as a matter of urgency and justice. It is believed that this modest demand will only attempt to cover mitigation and adaptation measures.”
He expressed worries that the delay in the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, and the wish of the United States of America to retain control over it would encourage a repeat of the system that created the existing crisis.
He noted that although Nigeria’s National Climate Change Act 2021 made provisions for the Climate Change Fund to be sourced from sums appropriated by the National Assembly, subventions, grants and donations, compensations for meeting Nationally Determined Contributions, fines and charges from private and public entities for flouting mitigation and adaptation obligations, carbon tax and emissions trading, use, and administration remained unclear.
Oluwafemi therefore underscored the need for Nigeria and other countries to attend CO29, which officially begins on November 11, with an agenda geared towards ameliorating the historical liabilities, ongoing infractions, economic and non-economic
deprivations, and not a conference for jamboree.
The 3rd National Conference brought together stakeholders from the federal government and the private sector, shining a beam on the hidden realities of frontline communities, exposing green colonialism and the structures that project only the interest of a few, thereby neglecting the majority.