AS COP29 opened yesterday, ActionAid International, says frontline countries who have done almost nothing to cause the problem are being pushed deeper into debt by the climate crisis.ActionAid Global Lead on Climate Justice, Teresa Anderson says the climate change hit countries that have not contributed to climate change are the ones getting stuck with an escalating climate bill as they bear the costs of recovering from disasters, preparing for future impacts, and transitioning to green technologies. “Climate-hit countries desperately need COP29 to agree a new climate finance goal worth trillions of dollars in grants each year. But instead of committing to provide the money to avert climate catastrophe, wealthy polluting countries are trying to avoid their responsibility. Not only are they trying to pass the buck onto Global South countries to pay, but they are also calling for exploitative loans and corporate investment to make up the bulk of the new climate finance goal,’’ she said.
She said COP29 is a test of wealthy countries’ commitment to securing a liveable planet.
“If we want to unleash climate action on a scale that can save our future, the countries that have caused the climate crisis must pay to fix the mess. Whatever the cost, paying for ambitious climate action now will be far cheaper than the cost of catastrophe later,’’ she concluded.
Senior Policy Analyst at ActionAid USA Kelly Stone, says climate finance is the core of an equitable, fair share approach to climate action. She said the world can only meet the goals of the Paris Agreement if everyone does their part, and for rich, developed countries like the US that includes real, grant-based climate finance. “Pushing forward market-mechanisms in place of climate finance is unacceptable. Market mechanisms are not climate finance. These mechanisms promote offsetting – letting countries and companies pay to avoid cutting their own emissions, which the world cannot afford, and which does not fulfill developed countries’ climate finance obligations,’’ she said.
ActionAid Bangladesh Country Director Farah Kabir says: “We want to remind world leaders at COP29 that as they drag their feet on climate action, countries in the Global South, like Bangladesh, continue to suffer the worst impacts of the climate crisis despite doing little to cause it. 2024 has been Bangladesh’s worst year yet. In June, we were hit by cyclone Remal, which affected over 4.7 million people. Before we could even recover from this, Bangladesh was hit by extensive flooding in August, affecting over 5 million people.’’
She said communities in the Global South do not have the luxury of time as time lost means more lives lost, greater destruction of property and livelihoods and more severe food insecurity. “We need climate finance now. These funds can unlock our communities’ ability to build resilience against the impacts of the climate crisis and shift to greener pathways,’’ she said
