Amid all the meetings taking place on the sidelines of global climate negotiations currently taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss the issue of Adaptation, the African Group of Negotiators want to see developed countries make meaningful financial commitments, both in quality and quantity.
The Global Goal on Adaptation is a collective commitment under Article 7.1 of the Paris Agreement aimed at “enhancing [the world’s] adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.” Proposed by the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) in 2013 and established in 2015, the GGA is meant to serve as a unifying framework that can drive political action and finance for adaptation on the same scale as mitigation.
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, Collins Nzovu, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) said that one of the expectations from COP28 was to result in tangible outcomes which reflect Africa’s aspirations, especially on the need for enhanced climate adaptation.
“We are concerned about the lack of progress on various issues of importance to our group particularly on finance and adaptation,” Nzovu who is also Zambian Minister of Green Economy and Environment said.
Last month, the UN Environment Programme published its Adaptation Gap report, which revealed the scale of the problem — a widening gap between the adaptation needs of vulnerable countries and the funding that has been made available so far.
The report has revealed that the gap is 50% larger than previously thought and that the adaptation needs are now ten to 18 times as great as the flows of international public finance.
COP28 is mandated to complete the work undertaken for the past two years under the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), by launching a robust framework on the GGA.
“The outcome of the GGA is the most important outcome for Africa at COP28, without which we would consider COP28 a failure,” Nzovu said.
While the means of implementation, including finance, capacity building, and technology transfer, is considered as a critical component of the framework, African negotiators believe that further technical work in unpacking the goal informed by science will be necessary upon the adoption of a robust framework in Dubai.
The delivery on the Sharm El-Sheik COP27 decision to establish a new fund for loss and damage, according to experts was a milestone achievement for the multilateral process.
While noting that a historic and positive start to this Conference where the Loss and Damage Fund was operationalised and initial financial commitments made within minutes, African negotiators call for more resources in order to actualise theintended purpose of the Fund.
Official reports show that developed countries have not met the US$ 100 billion per year mobilization goal by 2020. The goal of doubling adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025 is an undertaking on paper only, it said.
In addition, various official reports also demonstrate the enormous climate change needs of developing countries and how present public climate finance flows are not forthcoming, inadequate and lack quality.
The delivery on the Sharm El-Sheik COP27 decision to establish a new fund for loss and damage, according to AGN chair was a milestone achievement for the multilateral process.
” But Africa continues to suffer the brunt of the adverse effects of climate change and has not received the required multilateral support to face the climate challenge,” Nzovu said.
