As talks advance at the 56th session of the subsidiary bodies meeting of the UN Climate Change Conference, held from June 6 to 16, 2022, in Bonn, Germany, climate justice civil society groups in Africa have joined their counterparts across the globe to call on African governments to demand loss and damage finance, adopt effective and workable non-market mechanisms needed to attain real zero and not net-zero.
According to a statement by the groups, Africa’s contribution is insignificant to the current climate crisis, yet the continent is the most adversely affected by its consequences.
The groups held that Global North countries have failed to deliver their climate finance obligations and do their fair share of climate action.
This has forced African governments to tap into their meagre consolidated funds to mitigate the climate crisis within their countries, a situation that has further increased the region’s debt profile.
The groups, therefore, called upon African governments attending this SB56 to set a stable foundation for an efficient Loss & Damage (L&D) finance facility to be established at COP27 and advance strong arguments to commit industrialized and wealthy countries to provide adequate L&D finance.
African governments must also be at the forefront of developing a way forward for formalizing collaboration on non-market approaches to meet Paris commitments as part of Article 6.8.
This plan should include technology transfer, finance, and other methods of collaboration to scale-up renewables, agroecology, keeping fossil fuels in the ground, and other proven means of preventing and reducing emissions.
The groups stated that: “We’re expecting the highest-polluting countries and corporations alike to continue rolling out the greenwashing carpet while they parade a variety of meaningless (and sometimes outright dangerous) “net zero” plans and pathways, that require little to no action and do not reduce emissions at the source.
“Africa must challenge and reject pledges made by polluting corporations and governments to achieve “Net Zero” emissions, which are being used to shift additional burdens onto the African region and avoid responsibility for their role in the global share of emissions to date.
“Instead, our governments must commit to achieving Real Zero emissions reductions, embracing the concept of equity (each country does its fair share).”
Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, said: “The latest IPCC report is a strong indictment of the global north and a caution against ineptitude from governments of the Global South. As the world gathers in Bonn to review climate change commitments, it is only fair to accommodate the concerns of frontline communities and close corporate influence in our climate discourse.
Hellen Neima, Regional Director, Corporate Accountability Climate Campaign, said: “Africa, being the host of the upcoming 27th Conference of the Parties, must take this opportunity to shape what remains of the climate talk by unanimously demanding what is owed to her- Loss & Damage finance, a global goal on adaptation, and a workable non-market mechanism for real solutions. The groundwork for these must be laid now in on the ongoing 56th UNFCCC inter-sessional.”
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