The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak body for Australian NGOs delivering climate programming overseas, is disappointed at the lack of a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG).
COP29 has ended with a deal for developed countries to collectively raise $300bn per year for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
“Developing countries have understandably left COP29 bitterly disappointed with the inadequacy of the new climate finance goal. Experts have estimated that climate finance needs are in the trillions, yet this new global goal will raise only a sliver of what is needed to avert dangerous climate impacts worldwide,” said Dr Alex Edney-Browne, ACFID’s Policy & Government Relations Lead.
This goal is an increase on previous global commitments, but it falls well short of the trillions experts have estimated are needed to ensure developing countries can meet their mitigation targets and adapt to climate impacts already observed and projected before 2040.
Developing nations have expressed serious concern and dismay at the outcome of COP29. The growing burden of climate change on developing economies has made equitable access to climate finance more important than ever for low-income countries struggling to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Developed countries have again failed to take responsibility for their historic and ongoing contributions to the climate crisis, with developing countries forced to take on more debt to deal with a crisis they did not cause,” said Dr Edney-Browne.
“Climate finance is not a nice-to-have. It’s essential for developing countries to afford crucial climate mitigation and adaptation activities, to keep warming within safe limits and adapt to impacts such as extreme heat, flooding, fires and cyclones.
Loss and damage was not included in the new climate finance goal, meaning that there is no obligation on developed countries to contribute much needed loss and damage funds.
“ACFID welcomes the Australian Government’s pledge of $50m to the global loss and damage fund. We will now look to the Government to demonstrate leadership under the new global climate finance goal. This means providing our fair share of high quality and grants-based climate finance to the $300bn goal,” said Dr Edney-Browne.
No minimum targets were included in the goal for least developed countries and small island developing countries. This means that the world’s most climate vulnerable communities will continue to experience difficulties in accessing climate finance, especially in the Pacific.
Overall COP29 outcomes are fundamentally underwhelming and will leave developing countries worse off under projected climate impacts.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact ACFID Media at 0401 721 064 or at media@acfid.asn.au