COP28 is being held in the United Arab Emirates which began on 30th of November in Dubai. One of the gleaming cities built on wealth that fossil fuel brings and we must say this has sparked outrage among some environmentalists. At the Expo2020, a town where the event is ongoing, all streets are filled with millions of country delegates including: diplomates, youth and women advocates, climate advocates and private investors. These are all individuals from multiple spheres of influence that have come to share ideas, agree on what has gone right or wrong. Then invent innovative ways forward to tackle all these gigantic global threats to climate, humans and ecosystems.
The first day was marked by pledges into the loss and damage startup fund from the host country UAE, and Germany, both pledged $100m (£79m), which will aim to keep up with the rising costs caused by extreme weather and slow-onset disasters. The news gave this UN climate conference a running start on governments, and their negotiators were urged to use this as a mentor to deliver truly ambitious outcomes here in Dubai. Although now the fund stands at more than 700 million dollars, Rich developed countries must still step up with major contributions to the new fund, and polluting industries must also be made to pay. Thanks to the German youth delegates who made an arrangement for all youth including those from Africa, to have a detailed discussion between youth and policy negotiators on loss and damage fund. This enlightened us on the actual direction of these talks and what exactly is at stake. As climate activists from the global south, we affirm that the Fund should provide fast, accessible, non-debt finance to the growing number of Africans displaced with their livelihoods destroyed by escalating climate impacts who desperately need support. So far in 2023, extreme weather has killed at least 15,700 people in Africa and impacted at least 34 million more.Climate disasters include: a ‘medicane’ in Derna[Libya], flooding and landslides in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, record-breaking cyclone and unrelenting drought across East Africa. Despite our continent contributing only 3-4% of historical global carbon emissions, we suffer the worst climate change impacts globally. Nevertheless, we will continue to keep our hopes high that the pledges in the fund will drift from only millions to billions.
Currently, we have also learnt that there is no clear definition of what constitutes climate-induced loss and damage. Some define it as; ‘Damage’ refers to something that can be recovered or repaired, e.g., buildings, bridges or crop quality. ‘Loss’ refers to things that cannot be retrieved, such as life, social connections or biodiversity. The committee must then decide on the modalities of the fund. Who will receive funding? What projects will it support? How will they get it? How do they avoid the pitfalls of previous aid schemes that have failed to enable communities to become less dependent and more resilient? Funders must also refrain from repackaging previously allocated development or climate adaptation funding as loss and damage funding. But as much as we need all this strategic planning in place, the transitional committee has to put it in mind that the lives of many people depend on how fast they make these decisions. The pace at which they moved this year with lots of disagreement and going back and forth shouldn’t happen again next year.
Secondly, we stand with global leaders to urge for a more global response to the African continent’s adaptation financing needs to tackle the impact of climate change and build resilience among communities. Speaking during the Adaptation Finance Summit for Africa on the second day of the COP28, the leaders said climate adaptation funding, currently at 39% of all climate finance flows to Africa, must rapidly increase. The global leaders and investors should look at adaptation in Africa as a basic human right in terms of improving food insecurity through empowering farmers, ensuring access to water and electric energy by all people, and availability of basic health care for all. We also encourage all the women and youth to take part in adaptation leadership roles and innovative adaptation projects in order to attract more investment in climate adaptation. We congratulate 12-year-old Kenyan environment ambassador Karen Wanjiru Kimani who has planted more than 10,000 tree seedlings to date and plans to open a production plant of biodegradable bottles. If we have many young African people in these spaces and women educating and empowering communities on the benefits of climate smart behaviors and activities, we will be progressing in adaptation and climate justice. Furthermore, support from our African leaders is the footstool and backbone to sustainability of climate solutions. If they implement climate Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs) into national governance sectors, then go on and take these down to the major grassroots to transform them to benefit women, youth and people in marginalized communities, we will progress faster in the just transition process. The National and district leaders should also push for accountability through project analysis, while implementing these climate solutions and not necessarily leaving that role to civil society.
COP28 continues to be full of surprises and with multinational, multisectorial, interracial and intercontinental representation from all over the globe. We want to utilize this platform and privilege as youth and climate defenders from Africa to drive climate ambition and action within both our fellow youth and global leaders. We cannot do this alone, so we have made multiple collaborations and coherences with leaders, policy makers and fellow climate advocates for effective climate action calls. Let’s go all in today with climate solutions, don’t wait for too late.