Developed nations urged to honor climate pledge

South Africa has vowed to negotiate for the balancing of funding for adaptation and mitigation and push for developed countries to honor the climate change financing pledge at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP 27, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Barbara Creecy, South Africa's minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, said developed countries have been responsible for greenhouse emissions for more than 200 years, while African countries that are most affected by climate change have contributed less than 4 percent to accumulated greenhouse emissions.

"We have had recent estimates that African countries require over $440 billion for the next 10 years for mitigation and adaptation. We think it is important in the short term that developed nations need to honor the commitments that they have made to climate financing," Creecy told China Daily.

"We know the commitment made in Paris has still not been honored for raising $100 billion per annum. We think that to establish trust between developing and developed countries it would be very important that pledges are honored."

African countries have limited resources and are developing with most of them "heavily indebted", she said, and they should not borrow money to address the effects of climate change that would increase their indebtedness. There should be a fund for developing countries to claim money when they experience disasters as a result of climate change, Creecy said.

"We want to make sure there are new financial goals after 2025 and we want that to be met. It should not be a thumb-sucked figure that is not new finance. It must be predictable and available.

"We want to make sure that developed countries responsible for historic greenhouse gas emissions are not reneging on the climate financing commitment they made at COP 26. We want to make sure that they are not trying to push responsibility for climate commitments to developing countries. We hope to get the best deal for our people, country and humanity."

Creecy said there should be a balance on the financing for adaptation and mitigation. Developing countries have to honor climate commitments so vulnerable communities and sectors of the economy are not left behind, she said, and conflict of climate justice within the Global North and South should be understood, mainstreamed and integrated into the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and financed.

Hope expressed

Crispian Olver, executive director of South Africa's Presidential Climate Commission, said it is looking forward to COP 27. He welcomed the government's negotiating position at COP 27, which he said is aligned with the expectations of many South African stakeholders.

"We want the global goal on adaptation to be implemented. There is a target there, 50 percent resilience by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050. We are pleased that the South African government is pushing this adaptation finance facility, which will be embedded into the global architecture. The most important one for us is to push the notion of a just transition.

"Developed countries in the North that are primarily responsible for the climate crisis need to step forward and deliver on the commitment of $100 billion per annum for climate finance, and they have not been forthcoming. In fact, needs are much higher than that."

Olver said the research will be presented on climate investment needs at COP 27, and what South Africa has been doing on climate change will be highlighted.

The writer is a freelance writer for China Daily.