NAIROBI – The United Arabs Emirates has called on the donor countries to honour the $100 billion Paris Agreement climate pledges made more than a decade ago.
Speaking at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday, COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber further called on the advanced countries to replenish the green climate fund, adding that he will continue to press on the issue.
At the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) in Copenhagen in 2009, developed countries committed to a collective goal of mobilizing USD 100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation.
Additionally, Al Jaber demanded that donors should double adaptation finance by 2025, and urged all parties to transfer the global goals on adaptation from theory and text to real actions and tangible results.
“What was promised in Sharm el Sheikh must be delivered in Dubai. No longer accept pledges and announcements without clear roadmaps of implementation, “Al Jaber said.
A new global climate pact – the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan – was agreed at the COP27 summit, and included a historic commitment by richer nations to give money to developing nations to help them recover from the damage and economic losses wreaked from ongoing climate change impacts.
Developed countries agreed to establish a “loss and damage” fund to help poorer nations recover from the impacts of climate change, such as destroyed homes, flooded land or lost income from dried-out crops.
The UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change also called for an upgrade of the global financial architecture, which he noted was built for a “complete different era”, urging international financial institutions to lower debt burdens.
Al Jaber, who leads the UAE’s national oil company ADNOC and government-owned renewable energy company Masdar, announced a new initiative between UAE and Africa aiming at unlocking the continent’s capacity for sustainable progress.
“The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Etihad Credit Insurance, Masdar, the the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and Amir Power will join Africa50 as a strategic partner under the guidance of UAE and African leadership to develop 15 gigawatt of clean energy by 2030,”he announced.
In this arrangement, UAE will pump $4.5 billion to catalyse at least $12 billion from multilateral and private sources for bankable clean energy projects.
I urge everyone not to be attracted by the billions being promised by the so-called donors rather mobilize our own resources and get away from this dependency that will definitely compromise everything – President Isaias Afwerki
On her part, Tanzania President Suluhu Hasan said that as the world looks forward to COP28, African states must raise their voice on the establishment and capitalisation of a special fund for the continent.
“Contributions and pledges by the advanced countries have to say what percentage of these pledges goes to Africa. Not just blanket pledges,” President Suluhu said in her statement.
President Julius Bio of Sierra Leonne argued that the activities of the “significant polluters” must pivot from more declarations and vague commitments to actionable technology-driven reparations.
“It is a demand grounded on technical climate justice not just its moral feasibility of imperatives,” President Bio said.
On his part, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki, a known critic of the West, challenged the African leadership mobilize continent’s own resources rather than extend hands for handouts. “may aggravate the existing situation by inviting interference and corrupt practices.
“Mobilizing our own resources will be enabling and motivating creativity on the level of the continent. I urge everyone not to be attracted by the billions being promised by the so-called donors rather mobilize our own resources and get away from this dependency that will definitely compromise everything,” Afwerki said.
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