COP28: Environmentalist tasks African Leaders on Loss and Damage Fund

By Obiabin Onukwugha

Ahead of COP28, an environmental activist, Ken Henshaw, has harped on the need for African Leaders to take a position as regards loss and damage funding.

Henshaw, who is the Executive Director, We the People (WtP), spoke in an interview with Naturenews correspondent in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He regretted that African Leaders stood at akinbo when loss and damage was first established in the later days of COP27, instead of contributing to how it should work.

Henshaw said: “The reality about the Loss and Damage Fund is that it’s not cast in stone. It is unfortunate and I have been one of the people pushing that it would have been very important and critical for African Governments who are most heavily impacted by climate change to come together and set an agenda for loss and damage.

“There was no such thing as loss and damage. It didn’t exist. It was in the final days of COP27 that an agreement was reached that there should be something called loss and damage fund and a Committee was set up to fine-tune the strategy for that fund; where will the money come from, who will pay the money, how will it be delivered and so on and so fault. But African Leaders didn’t contribute anything to the committee to say look when you are doing this make sure this is included in this. No such thing happened.”

Henshaw also told Naturenews that, with this development, CSOs have decided to come up with a document as to how the fund should be handled during the COP28 in Dubai, regretting the Nigerian government in particular was yet to have a clear plan as to how the funds should be utilised.

“For instance, we are asking, if the loss and damage fund comes to Nigeria how will the fund be channeled? Is it directly to the communities or to the local government authorities or to the state governments.

“We have seen allocations sent through that same route; federal government, state government to local government and we know that these allocations don’t get to the people. We have seen NDDC funds sent to NDDC it doesn’t get to the people. We have seen 13% derivation paid into the account of state governments, it doesn’t get to the people. So what will you do differently with loss and damage fund to impact the people who have really been lost and damaged.

“I expected that there will be a quarrel and we are ready to go to COP28 in Dubai and also make our point because as civil society organisations, since government has failed to set up a blue print we are setting up a blue print and we are taking it to COP to say this is what loss and damage should look like.

“We need to talk about loss and damage. What is loss? Is it roads they have been eroded by flood or is it just agricultural farm lands that are gone. How about the burial place of my grand father that has been swept away. How about my cultural artifact, how about my way life; the fact that my people traditionally for one thousand years have been fisher folks and farmers but can’t fish and farm again because their community is lost and damaged.

“How do you quantify that in monetary terms and who pays. But beyond who pays for loss and damage, is this fund going to be voluntary and compulsory.

“The problem with climate finance in the past is that they were all voluntary and that is why when the world promised to being $100billiom a year for climate change you see only five billion, that is why Donald Trump could wake up one morning and pull US out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

“Will the loss and damage fund be different, will it be mandatory. If it is mandatory how do you enforce it. What will be the sanctions. Loss and Damage leaves a lot to be desired and this is just the first quarrel. There will be several more quarrels to come,” he stated.