The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has revealed that Africa will need an average of $250 billion per year in climate finance between 2020 and 2030.
It said this is against the paltry sum of $30 billion it received in 2020 which is about 12% of the amount needed.
Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, stated this at the 3rd national climate change conference.
He said Africa will need a significant amount of the funds to adapt to climate change and limit the impact of the warming.
The theme of the conference is “Channeling Action Towards Just, Sustainable Climate Financing”.
He said Nigeria, Africa, and the rest of the Global South are bearing the biggest brunt of climate crises despite their insignificant contributions to global emissions.
“What remains worrisome is the unbothered disposition of polluters, and the Global North, in their deliberate refusal to accept historical liabilities, commit to reparatory justice through progressive and sustainable grants and not loans, for climate change financing,” he said.
He said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that global investment and financial flows of $200–210 billion will be needed by 2030 to meet the global greenhouse gas emission target of below 1.5 degrees set in the Paris Agreement.
According to him, additionally, the private sector is also expected to help in the mobilization of $213.4 billion annually with Multilateral Development Banks deploying more than $10 billion to bridge the financing gap.
He said though minimal compared to the quantum of devastations caused by climate crises in the region including Nigeria, not up to 20% of the said funds have been raised.
He said Climate activists and rights movements across the world including the Demand for Climate Justice (DCJ), Climate Action Network (CAN), and Africa Make Big Polluters Pay (MBPP) have called for the declaration of a state of emergency on climate financing with an initial demand of $5 trillion in climate finance annually in the next five years as a down payment to the Global South as a matter of urgency and justice.
“It is believed that this modest demand will only attempt to cover mitigation and adaptation measures.
“We are also worried that the delay in the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund and the wish of the United States of America to retain control over it will only aid the repeat of the system that created the mess we are in.
“Back home, though our National Climate Change Act 2021 made provisions for the Climate Change Fund to be sourced from sums appropriated by the National Assembly, subventions, grants and donations, compensations for meeting Nationally Determined Contributions, fines and charges from private and public entities for flouting mitigation and adaptation obligations, carbon tax and emissions trading, use, and administration remains unclear.
“We will also expect discussions around Climate Reparation which is rooted in the black liberation movement to demand compensation and restoration for the Global South for the historical liabilities, ongoing infractions, economic and non-economic deprivations.
“We will uncover corporate and political interests that have characterized global conversations around commensurate compensation and those that have slowed down just climate finance by misplacing them with carbon projects,” he said.
In a paper presentation on “Climate Finance: Politics, Realities, and Expectations” by Faith Nwadishi, she said the global climate crisis demands urgent action, with its impacts most acute in vulnerable regions, particularly in the Global South.
She said ” The 2023 climate inequality report by World inequality lab shows that the bottom 50% of the world’s population bears 75% of relative climate losses, contributes only 12% to emissions, and has just 2% of the capacity to finance, while the top 10% contributes 48% of emissions, experiences only 3% of losses, and holds 76% of the financial capacity.
” This disproportionate effect highlights the need for equitable climate finance—financial flows that support both mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing nations.
“As COP29 approaches, global policymakers have an opportunity to shape a more inclusive financial landscape that prioritizes the communities most impacted by climate change,” she said.