CS Aden Duale: Finance must be Africa's priority in COP29 position paper

Environment and climate change Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said  climate finance for adoption,  loss, and damage should meet regional needs ahead of Cop29.

CS Duale was speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday while presiding over the opening session of the three-day Africa Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) preparation workshop for COP29. 

Duale urged the climate experts to prepare the position paper prioritising finance as a critical enabler of climate action.

“Currently, climate finance is flowing to the continent at an insufficient scale and in unequal directions. Reform is needed to make finance available, affordable, and accessible, especially to developing economies. Securing a strong favorable finance deal at COP 29 is therefore vital,” said Duale.

His appeal is in line with this year's COP29 billed ‘finance COP’scheduled to take place  in Baku between November 11-22.

As countries commit to adopting necessary policies and measures to achieve global targets set in the Paris Agreement, CS Duale has also complained of insufficient mitigation financial support.

“As countries are building momentum towards a new set of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the African continent has not received sufficient financial and technical support to effectively implement, track and report on their current NDCs,” he emphasised.

NDCs are commitments that countries make to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of climate change mitigation.

According to the UN Adaptation Gap Report 2022, planning, financing, and implementing adaptation actions still face some  financial setbacks.

International adaptation finance flows to developing countries are 5-10 times below estimated needs and the gap keeps widening. 

The report further indicates that estimated annual adaptation needs are USD 160-340 billion by 2030 and USD 315-565 billion by 2050.

Therefore, loss and damage finance needs are closely connected to a country’s  ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

“We also lack clarity on the amount of current and future funding, capacity building, and technical support required to implement our NDCs. This vagueness undermines the transparency of the support framework under the Paris Agreement and should be prioritized in the upcoming negotiations,” he added.

As African countries continue to grapple with the effects of climate change, the Paris Agreement could also pave the way to better carbon markets as the loss and damage fund is yet to have a meaningful impact.

The CS also highlighted the adaptation and loss and damage funds as another aspect that should be prioritised while making the paper.

“COP 29 is a pivotal opportunity to prioritize adaptation and loss and damage and secure the necessary financial and technical assistance to close the adaptation finance gap through innovative funding mechanisms including private sector investments,” he said.

The African Position paper is set to be presented to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment and Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change for consideration, 

The CS further emphasized adaptation to the impacts of climate change, fostering climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production.

 AGN are holding a three day workshop in Nairobi bringing together United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, National Focal Point and negotiators from across Africa to consolidate on the continet’s position ahead of COP.

The workshop is themed; Africa’ collective voice for climate action and development.