Delivering an African People’s COP begins in Bonn

Statement issued by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) on behalf of its 1000 members representing 51 African countries   

Bonn, 10 June 2022—Delivering an African People – PACJA’s statement in Bonn

As the first week of debates and negotiations at 56^th Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB56) come to a close, the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance, on behalf of more than 1000 organizations in 51 countries that constitute its membership, reiterates as follows:

The climate crisis is now among the leading drivers of poverty and suffering throughout Africa. Cyclones in southern Africa, droughts in the Horn of Africa, erratic rains throughout the continent, and other extreme weather events have left millions without food, shelter, adequate nutrition, and a reliable source of livelihood. The number of deaths occasioned by climate related disasters is on an upward surge as the frequency of weather events on different parts of Africa increase. Climate change has increased the continent’s disease and health sector burden, orchestrated mass displacement and sparked multiple conflicts throughout the region. As we have argued for decades, adaptation and increasingly loss and damage (L&D) are the main climate action priorities for the continent. These are only possible with a climate finance architecture and other means of implementation that respond to Africa’s unique needs and circumstances.

Both the most recent science and policy analyses acknowledge Africa’s unrivalled vulnerability to climate change. The IPCC estimates that the continent is warming 1.5 times faster than the rest of the world. Even at safe global warming thresholds of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius, the continent will still experience unbearable weather extremes and impacts across multiple sectors. With high dependency on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, the continent’s rural poor feel the effects of climate change first and the hardest. Sadly, the region is currently home to most of the world’s 100 million people in extreme poverty and lacking adequate adaptive capacities. Climate change will likely push tens of millions more Africans into abject poverty in the next decade.

Sadly, global climate change policies have failed to reflect the urgency of ambitious adaptation and L&D action needed to save the lives of millions of Africans currently at the frontlines of the climate crisis. The international community spends only 20% of climate finance on adaptation, very little of which reaches Africa. For instance, the World’s Economic Forum estimates that Africa was receiving barely $5 per person per year in Adaptation finance by 2018. Other estimates are worse. As many African suffer losses and damage from extreme weather, their financial needs have grown while supply has remained insignificant and inadequate.

COP26 was not the turning point many African advocates had hoped for after decades of dashed hopes. Our assessment of the Glasgow Climate Pact concluded that it was “a failed opportunity to spur ambitious action and secure protection for hundreds of millions of people affected by climate change in Africa and other developing nations. Efforts to secure a healthy planet and resilient communities were derailed by the narrow interests of states, notably those required to do more to address the climate crisis because of their past and current share of greenhouse gas emissions. As in previous engagements, COP26 focused on accommodating and comforting big polluters.”  Read More