COP29: Experts decry Africa’s climate finance shortfalls

It is the fourth day of the ongoing United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Today, the conversation on the agenda is focused on “Finance, Investment, and Trade,” spotlighting the pivotal role that financial and trade systems play in supporting global climate action.

This thematic day has attracted international leaders, financial experts, climate activists/advocates and policy innovators who are committed to advancing green governance, sustainable finance, and climate accountability.

However, several participants at this year’s COP who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, expressed concerns over the lack of sufficient climate finance in Africa, gender inclusion, and some of the political dramas surrounding the ongoing climate debate following the withdrawal of Argentina’s delegation from the COP negotiation.

Similarly, some of the COP29 participants shared their perception/expectations from the ongoing debate, especially since the COP organisers had tagged this year’s COP as the “finance COP”. The expectations of climate vulnerable countries are extremely high.

Delegations from African countries and the global south are largely gunning for more funds to scale up “adaptation” measures in order to build strong resilience for climate-induced disasters amidst weak funding support from wealthy nations.

They have also raised concerns over some of the proposed climate finance solutions such the carbon market trading schemes, which is perceived to be a gateway to allowing wealthy countries/ multinationals to continue to emit greenhouse gases and also undervalue Africa’s natural covers/assets.

During the opening plenary on Monday, the COP29 organisers hinted that the negotiating priority at the conference is to achieve a “new climate finance goal”.

“COP29 will “test our commitment to the multilateral climate system” at the end of the first decade after the Paris Agreement. COP29 top negotiating priority is a new climate finance goal,” the statement said.

It added that a realistic goal for what the public sector can directly provide and mobilise seems to be in the “hundreds of billions”.

This underscores the identified agreement on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance as the top negotiating priority for COP29.

But some climate and environmental activists at COP this year seem not to be comfortable with the NCQG language making the rounds, especially because the agreement reached in 2009, where nations agreed to mobilise $100,000 annually to support climate vulnerable nations in the global south, did not yield significant impacts.

Converting Africa’s green assets to wealth

In his remarks at this year’s conference, Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) said it is time for Africa’s green environmental assets to be properly priced, as this will allow the continent to convert its massive green assets into wealth through their inclusion in the Gross Domestic Products.

Africa plays host to some of the largest sources of natural capital in the world, with significant potential for clean energy investment, abundant natural resources, uncultivated arable land, world-renowned biodiversity, and the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest area.

However, this does not reflect in the continent’s economic development despite this abundance. Similarly, despite contributing less to global emission, the impacts of climate change in Africa is too visible to be ignored. The continent continues to experience high levels of poverty and economic stagnation amidst debts

“Its vast natural capital has continued to be significantly undervalued,” Mr Adesina said, adding that “while Africa’s GDP was estimated at $2.5 trillion in 2018, this figure was 2.5 times lower than the estimated value of its natural capital, which was assessed at that time to be $6 trillion.”

He explained that the failure to accurately account for Africa’s resources and contributions, significantly undermines the continent’s true value, resulting in a paradox where the continent is abundantly rich in natural resources yet struggling financially — often referred to as the resource curse.

He noted that Africa finds itself in a situation described as “green-endowed but cash-poor,” highlighting the stark contrast between its rich potential and its economic reality.

“Once Africa’s vast forests, environmental services, and natural capital are properly valued, the size of its GDP will increase considerably,” Mr Adesina said.

Underpaying Africa for carbon value

One of the proposed solutions for climate finance at this year’s COP is the development of a viable carbon trading scheme. At the opening plenary of COP29 on Monday, Parties participating at the ongoing Conference reached a consensus on standards for the creation of carbon credits under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.

The Carbon markets are recognised as a way to implement the Paris climate agreement and raise funds from capital markets to cover climate-induced disaster costs.

Akinwumi Adesina, President African Development Bank (AfDB). [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Facebook page of Mr Adesina]

For instance, Mr Adesina said the rainforest of the Congo Basin absorbs 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, making it a critical carbon sink for the world. Yet despite this well-established fact, Africa doesn’t receive a fair value for its forests in carbon markets.

“Africans have been underpaid for carbon due to the undervaluation of Africa’s carbon sinks. The ongoing carbon initiative in Africa is a lose-lose proposition,” he said.

He noted that while the price of carbon per metric ton in Europe can sometimes reach as high as $200, in Africa it ranges from just $3 to $10.

“It is time for Africa’s green environmental assets to be properly priced, enabling the continent to convert its massive green assets into wealth through their inclusion in Africa’s GDP,” Mr Adesina said.

This, he said, would raise substantial financial resources for the continent, support greater green investments, and provide improved policies for the transition to sustainable development.

The AfDB president explained that he sees a promising future in which Africa unlocks tremendous benefits through precise evaluations of its carbon sinks and natural resources.

By correctly valuing these vital ecological assets, Mr Adesina said, the continent can significantly boost its revenue streams, which would empower Africa to manage its debts in a sustainable manner while steadfastly pursuing ambitious green initiatives.

“It is high time that we incorporate the value of Africa’s natural capital into our assessments of GDP. It is time for Africa to be both green-rich and cash-rich,” Mr Adesina said.

He said: “We don’t need handouts. We don’t need people to simply say they are helping Africa. We want Africa to be valued based on the strength of its natural capital assets, which must be reflected on its balance sheet.”

Under-representation of women

On her part, Frances Roberts-Gregory, Feminist Political Ecologist and Climate Justice Anthropologist at UNFCCC COPs, expressed worry over the poor representation of women in the official negotiation team at COP.

Frances Roberts-Gregory [PHOTO CREDIT: cssn.org]

Ms Roberts-Gregory, an associate Professor in the United States of America, said she’s looking forward to seeing more gender parity and mainstreaming at COP.

“Also everyone is saying this is a finance COP, it is also a gender COP. So we need an ambitious gender action plan.We also need to make sure that human rights gender sensitive language is removed from the negotiation text. Also let’s fight false solutions that are market based,” she said.

“Arena for geopolitics and false solutions ”

Meanwhile, Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of HOMEF in Nigeria, expressed worry over COP negotiations not being able to meet the demands of vulnerable countries experiencing the climate crisis.

“This year, the COP is being labelled the finance COP and that captured everyone’s attention. This is because the COP has been notorious in terms of being unable to raise funds needed to help vulnerable poor nations who did not create the problem they have to contend with,” Mr Bassey said.

He described COP as an arena for “geopolitics” and that this has reflected in what has happened with regards to poor financing of climate-related issues .

Mr Bassey said from day one, COP29 has focused on Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement and carbon markets, emphasising that by the end of the conference, it may be dubbed the ‘Carbon Stock Exchange’ due to the numerous deals that will likely have significant impacts on Africa.

Nnimmo Bassey, founder of HOMEF, the most active anti-GM group in the country.

He argued that Africa is going to have more “Carbon slavery and Carbon colonialism” because its territories would be doled out to carbon speculators for carbon readings.

“Unfortunately, when we give out our territories for Carbon trading/credits, it is the buyer who will now count the Carbon designated areas as their own carbon sink and as their own contribution to global warming,” Mr Bassey said.

For instance, he said, if half of Nigerian territories are given out for Carbon trading, Nigeria cannot count that to be its contribution to tackling the global problem, it is those who invest in that programme who will count.

“What that does is to allow polluters to benefit from pollution by continuing pollution and showing their carbon credits as a licence for doing that,” Mr Bassey said.

COP29 agenda

This year, the COP29 agenda is expected to be anchored on climate finance, mitigation, and adaptation, with the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) designed to provide support for vulnerable communities in global climate solutions.

READ ALSO: COP29: Parties reach consensus on standards for creation of carbon credits

The COP29 President opened the summit by setting clear expectations for how global leaders must enhance ambition and enable action during the conference.

“COP29 is a critical moment for global leaders to come together and demonstrate their collective commitment to climate action,” the organisers said.

This year’s summit will run from 11-22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, and approximately 70,000 delegates are registered to attend, according to organisers. This includes heads of state and government who will participate in the leaders’ segment on 12-13 November.

This report is published as part of COP29 Reporting Fellowship of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development