South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said more climate funding needs to come in the form of grants and concessional loans, to avoid the continent ramping up debt.
Ramaphosa called on multilateral development banks to change their approach to climate finance, saying support is out of reach for most of the world’s population. The institutions are “risk averse” and their funding offers “carry onerous costs,” he said at the COP27 conference in Egypt.
Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda stressed the importance of energy security as the world grapples with higher prices.
“The transition is there to serve man, not the man to serve the transition,” he said.
More than 100 world leaders are set to be in Sharm el-Sheikh over the next two weeks for the UN’s annual climate talks. They’re attempting to maintain momentum in the battle to curb planet-warming emissions.
This year, delegates are aiming harsh criticism at each other over issues ranging from climate reparations to funding for mitigation and adaptation in poorer countries.
Rising energy prices, accelerated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, have led many governments to prioritize security of supply over the transition to cleaner energy since the last COP summit in Glasgow.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, France’s Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were among the biggest names to speak on Monday. US President Joe Biden and Brazil’s President-elect Luis Inacio Lula da Silva are due to appear later on.
The most notable no shows are China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi, leaders of the world’s largest and third-largest emitters.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa called on multilateral development banks to change their approach to climate finance, decrying the failure to live up to promises to boost funding for climate adaptation and mitigation.
Multilateral support is out of reach for most of the world’s population, he said in a speech. The institutions are “risk averse” and their funding offers “carry onerous costs.”
More funding needs to come in the form of grants and concessional loans, he said.
African Union Chairman and Senegalese President Macky Sall called on rich nations to honor their pledges to finance African countries vulnerable to climate change, rather than giving loans to the already heavily-indebted nations.
“Developing countries are currently funding most of their climate change projects by taking on debts, when they should be receiving funding from what we have together agreed,” Sall said in a speech. “We are funding our own adaptation efforts when we the victims, which means we are being doubly punished and we are not ready to put up with that.”
“We are in favor of reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions,” he said. “But we Africans cannot accept that our vital interests be ignored as we undergo this energy transition. We are low emitters, however, we are the most vulnerable to loss and damage triggered by climate change.”-moneyweb
