Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, has called on developed countries to meet their commitments towards climate change adaptation.
“We need everybody to show progress in the implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and need new finances for our Just Transitions, including direct budget support for developing countries to build adaptation and resilience, and to address losses and damages brought about by climate change,” the Minister said on Monday.
Addressing the Pre-27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP27) negotiations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Creecy noted with disappointment the failure by developed countries to meet their commitment of mobilising US$ 100 billion by 2020.
She emphasised the importance of developing nations delivering the $100 billion per year, from now through to 2025, for building trust and faith in the multilateral process.
“Our call for developed countries to deliver on their commitments to meet their goal and ensure progression of efforts in the ongoing mobilisation of climate finance is a fair one.
“COP27 needs to be a watershed moment for implementation by securing the Means of Implementation, in the form of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building, for African and other developing countries. This is important if we are to transition from negotiations to implementation,” the Minister said.
The government of the Arab Republic of Egypt will host COP27 with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change.
The Minister said the urgent need is to adapt now, while nations build resilience for the future.
She appealed for focus to be placed on the most vulnerable people and communities in order to support health and well-being; food and water security; infrastructure and the built environment, as well as ecosystems and linked services.
“COP27 is thus a critical moment for all of us in Africa. This COP, which is taking place on African soil, must deliver meaningful and substantive progress on adaptation; loss and damage, and means of implementation support for African and other developing countries. COP27 further needs to focus on supporting a people-centred, just and equitable transition in the developing world.
“For too long, these issues of critical importance to Africa have seen only process-related outcomes in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations, due to the mitigation-centric approach of developed countries,” the Minister said.
Creecy said COP27 must ensure that the outcome on Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) increases the actual resilience of the population to the adverse impacts of climate change by at least 50% by 2030 and by at least 90% by 2050.
“We also need an outcome on a key set of adaptation finance goals as part of the GGA, focusing on core adaptation support in a range of sectors, and also as part of the deliberations on a new collective quantified goal on finance, and present a clear roadmap to deliver on the Glasgow decision to double adaptation finance by 2025.
“This roadmap, as stated in the AMCEN Dakar decisions, should include projected annual contributions, the timing of such contributions, and the multilateral institutions that will channel these resources to developing countries.
“We need everybody to show progress in the implementation of their NDCs and need new finances for our Just Transitions, including direct budget support for developing countries to build adaptation and resilience, and to address losses and damages brought about by climate change,” the Minister said. – SAnews.gov.za
