Liapeng Raliengoane
Germany, Bonn – As countries meet in Bonn Germany for technical discussions that lay the roadmap to what will be agreed later this year, there is high expectation that this preparatory work sets a clear ambition for a realistic finance target that is proportionate with the scale of needs and speed to deal with the climate crisis.
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.
African Group of Negotiators (AGN) on Climate Change Chair, Ali Mohamed said, “As the negotiations get into the second week, our work as the AGN is to ensure that we 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. The figure Africa is asking for from here as we head into COP29 is $1.3 trillion per year by 2030,” he added.
Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group, Evans Njewa expressed that the first week has been promising.
“As the chair mandated to oversee 45 Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) 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, is accessible and scaled up to meet the needs of developing countries,” Njewa said.
Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, Eva Peace highlighted that the new climate finance goal is an opportunity to learn from the lessons of the $100 billion goal and design the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to meet the needs and priorities of developing countries. The NCQG should include sub-goals on loss and damage, adaptation, and mitigation and provide public grant-based finance.
The 2024 Bonn Climate Change Conference known as the 60th Sessions of the United Nations Climate Change Subsidiary Bodies (SB60) is currently underway at the World Conference Centre in Bonn Germany. It started on 3 June and will end on 13 June 2024.
