- During COP28, African countries were particularly concerned that the past promises by developed countries had not been met
- Developed countries have not met the US$100 billion per year mobilisation goal by 2020
Image: PCS
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are consolidating their position ahead of the next round of climate talks.
The next session of the UNFCCC COP 29 will convene from November 11 to 22, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The conference builds on previous successes and paves the way for future efforts to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change.
Keen to ensure that their demands are on the table, the African continent is in the process of identifying priority areas.
The Africa Group of Negotiators on Climate Change has had a busy schedule fine-tuning ideas ahead of the talks.
The group, currently chaired by Kenya's special climate envoy Ali Mohamed, is a pan-African team of experts.
They represent the continent in international climate change negotiations based on a common and unified voice.
On August 14, the negotiators held a three-day meeting in Nairobi ahead of COP29 where they sought to cement Africa’s position.
The workshop is themed 'Africa's collective voice for climate action and development'.
During the COP28 in Dubai, the group threatened to disown any outcome that did not address some of their demands.
African countries were particularly concerned that the past promises by developed countries had not been met.
Developed countries have not met the $100 billion per year mobilisation goal by 2020, which they committed to at COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009.
The negotiators former chairperson, Collins Nzovu, said Africa’s top priorities have to be met.
“Adaptation is a key issue for Africa, and an outcome of the Global Goal on Adaptation has been our key demand. We will not agree on anything here unless Africa’s top priorities are met, which to us is a Global Goal on Adaptation framework," Nzovu said.
"If we are serious about saving lives and livelihoods and protecting ecosystems, then the GGA framework must have ambitious, time-bound targets with clear means of implementation support.”
The money was intended for climate action in developing countries - to support mitigation actions and transparency on implementation.
Ahead of the COP29, Environment CS Aden Duale said financing must be at the heart of the climate diplomacy.
"Currently, climate finance is flowing to the continent at an insufficient scale and in unequal directions. Reform is needed to make finance available, affordable and accessible, especially to developing economies. Securing a strong favourable finance deal at COP29 is vital," Duale said.
He also identified other priorities which are crucial as climate impacts worsen.
"COP29 is a pivotal opportunity to prioritise adaptation, loss and damage and secure the necessary financial and technical assistance. This will help to close the adaptation finance gap through innovative funding mechanisms including private sector investments," Duale said.
The CS said there is a need for financial and technical capacity to flow to the African continent for it to adapt to climate change.
The continent has not received sufficient financial and technical support to implement, track and report on its current Nationally Determined Contributions effectively.
NDCs are climate action plans to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts.
"We also lack clarity on the amount of current and future funding, capacity building and technical support required to implement NDCs."
Duale said the vagueness undermines the transparency of the support framework under the Paris Agreement.
This should be prioritised in the upcoming negotiations.
Kenya is a party to the Paris Agreement and is among the countries required to establish an NDC and update it every five years.
Duale said the continent will rely on the collective support of the negotiators.
This is to achieve the objectives as will be outlined in the Africa Position Paper.
The paper will be presented to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment and Committee of African Heads of State and governments on climate change next month, for consideration and adoption.