• In 2009, at COP15 in Copenhagen, developed countries committed to a goal of mobilising $100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries.
• At COP21 in Paris, countries agreed to set a new collective quantified goal before 2025, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries.
Image: FILE
As climate talks get underway in Bonn, Germany, African countries have demanded that they need $1.3 trillion per year by 2030 to address the impact of climate change.
African Group of Negotiators Experts Support chairperson Ali Mohamed said their work is to ensure that they get a progressive draft text that sends a signal that non debt-inducing climate finance will flow to developing countries at the scale needed to drive non-carbon-intensive and climate-resilient development.
“SB60 is an opportunity to rebuild trust in the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. That trust can only be rebuilt if we come out of Bonn with a quantum that adequately covers the needs of the continent,” Mohamed, who doubles up as a Special Climate Envoy for Kenya, said.
Countries are meeting in Bonn for technical discussions that lay the road map to what will be agreed upon later this year at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
African countries say there is a need for a clear ambition for a realistic financial target that is commensurate with the scale of needs and speed to deal with the climate crisis.
“The figure Africa is asking for from here as we head into COP29 is $1.3 trillion per year by 2030,” Mohamed said.
During the deliberations, experts opined that a realistic financial target will make or break climate talks this year.
This year is the big climate finance year, where countries will agree on a new global climate finance goal known as the New Collective Quantified Goal.
This goal will be a key marker for a successful outcome at the annual UN climate talks (COP 29) in Baku.
In 2009, at COP15 in Copenhagen, developed countries committed to a goal of mobilising $100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries.
At COP21 in Paris, countries agreed to set a new collective quantified goal before 2025, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries.
The NCQG aims to mobilise financing to support the climate needs and priorities of developing countries, which include mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and just transitions.
It is also meant to provide clarity on the public funding available for developing countries to implement their next round of nationally determined contributions and adaptation plans, which are due by February 2025.
For developing countries, this means provision of finance that enables them to deal with the frequency of extreme weather events that leave the most vulnerable bearing the brunt of climate impacts.
For developing countries, this means a quantum figure in the trillions.
More than the amount in quantitative terms, countries are clear on the need for the financing to be quality.
This means that the agreed climate financing will not be given in the form of loans, as has happened in the past, should not be double counted, and hence should be added to development finance.
The climate finance that has been given in the form of loans has exacerbated the debt burden of developing countries.
A study by ONE Campaign shows that due to debt service repayments, financial outflows from African countries have surpassed inflows that include official development assistance.
Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group, Evans Njewa, said the first week at Bonn has been promising, as the chairperson is mandated to oversee 45 least developed countries across the world.
“I have been keen to shape a process that is inclusive and meets the needs of LDCs. As we get into the second week, where a lot of negotiation texts are likely to be concluded, we hope to agree that developed countries will provide climate financing that is based on science, accessible and scaled up to meet the needs of developing countries," he said.