By Nneka Nwogwugwu
African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and speakers at the 2nd ministerial meeting on climate and development held on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly on Tuesday in New York questioned the commitment of developed countries to deliver on the promises they made at COP26 in Glasgow and the 2015 Paris Agreement.
They called for urgent action to raise funding for the world’s most vulnerable nations.
The top-level meeting wants climate and nature objectives mainstreamed across financial and economic policy as well as a significant action point to be presented at COP27 in November.
“We are late. We must act. I’m fed up with saying the same thing too many times in the same meetings. Business as usual is the collective enemy. It’s time for action,” said US climate envoy John Kerry adding, “We are working on something serious to be put on the table at Sharm El Sheikh.”
Senator Kerry spoke about his recent trips to Nigeria and Senegal, which are among 48 sub-Saharan countries that contribute less than 0.55% of carbon gas emissions yet suffer disproportionately from the impacts of climate change.
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He said the world must change the way it does business ahead of COP 27 and called for the involvement of the private sector to raise the financing that is required to tackle climate change. “Climate and development go together. The key point is: where is the money? All promises were left in Paris.”
Dr. Adesina painted the reality of climate change in some of the African countries he recently visited, describing the situation as a heart-wrenching thing.
“In Cabo Verde, they have not had rain for nearly three years. In Mauritania, vast areas are deserted because of lack of rain,” said the African Development Bank head
Adesina told the meeting: “Africa is suffering, choking, and is in serious financial distress for what it didn’t cause. There must be a greater sense of urgency not in talking, but in doing and delivering resources that the continent needs very desperately.”
He charged the world to deliver at COP 27 -the Africa COP, “we must deliver the goods there. If there are good to be delivered, it’s really about adaptation. We do desperately need to have the financing for adaptation.”
Adesina spoke about the bank-led Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, which is mobilizing $25 billion of financing to support the continent at scale.
Speakers advocated for a coordinated strategy that involves funders, partners, and the private sector working together to finance climate change, especially for adaptation. Additionally, they urged countries to honour the promises they made at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
