As France prepares to host world leaders at a global financial summit seeking to reconfigure global financial systems, sources in the French government say developed countries will be able to, by year end, deliver on the $100 billion climate financing pledge of 2020.
The financial summit hosted by France seeks to establish a system that will be more responsive, just and inclusive. A system that will fight inequalities, finance the climate transition, biodiversity protection, and move closer to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In 2009 at COP 15 in Copenhagen, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, developed countries decided to commit to a goal of jointly mobilising $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.
Parties decided that this funding would come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance, and that new multilateral funding for adaptation would be delivered through effective and efficient fund arrangements, with a governance structure providing for equal representation of developed and developing countries.
The commitment was formalised at COP16 in Cancun and at COP21 in Paris, it was reiterated and extended to 2025.
French officials involved in organising this week’s summit are now saying that developed countries are on their way to fulfilling this pledge by the end of 2023. The OECD in its most recent analysis (2022) put the figure mobilised by developed countries in 2020 at $83.3 billion for climate finance.
This is realised from a range of sources including bilateral public, multilateral public, export credit and the private sector.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados and UN Chief Antonio Guterres amongst others are expected to comment on this at the summit starting on Thursday 22 June.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu is in France to attend the financial summit where he will be briefed by Nigeria’s Ambassador to France Kayode Laro, Permanent Secretary Adamu Lamuwa, and other officials on Nigeria’s position on the summit, and the scheduled sideline meetings with leaders and multilateral institutions.
Africa needs more
The president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, in May, hinted that Africa will need $2.7 trillion to upscale climate change adaptation by 2030.
Mr Adesina made this known at the AfDB annual meeting themed: “Mobilising private sector financing for climate and green growth in Africa,” held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
“Africa is being shortchanged by climate finance. Africa is choking. Africa will need $2.7 trillion by 2030 to finance its climate change needs,” Mr Adesina said.
Despite being the world’s lowest emitter of greenhouse gases, Africa is one of the worst hit by climate change in the world.
For instance, in 2022, Nigeria experienced one of its worst flood disasters ever. Over 26 of the 36 states in the country were affected by floods, resulting in the death of hundreds of citizens and the destruction of houses. Also, expansive hectares of farmland were ruined, and roads and bridges were washed off.
The flood affected over 2.5 million people, displaced 1.3 million; left 2,407 injured, and 603 persons dead.
This nature’s rage, believed to have been aggravated by the existential climate change effects and poor government attention, sparked humanitarian tragedies as fears of worsening food insecurity linger.