With the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) slated for November 6-18 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, CARICOM has heightened its call for developed states to step up to the plate and make climate financing more accessible and equitable.
CARICOM said that its Ministers of the Environment and Sustainable Development met on Friday for the 105th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) where a number of issues were discussed and agreed upon. It said that the ministers considered the scientific and geopolitical context and the prospects of a global recession in 2023 which will have significant bearing on global action to address the poly crises of climate, energy, food, health, environment, development and security.
They reiterated that global warming represents an existential threat to CARICOM and reaffirmed their full commitment to limit the increase in global temperature to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In light of the upcoming COP27, CARICOM said that it has endorsed a series of measures on the way forward. Among those measures are – a smooth adoption of the finance agenda sub-item titled, “Funding arrangements to address loss and damage”, before work begins; acknowledgement of the gaps in existing funding arrangements, especially under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as the urgent and immediate need for new, additional, adequate and predictable financial resources to assist developing countries to meet the cost of the ex-post responses to loss and damage; an agreement to establish a new, fit-for-purpose multilateral fund designated as an operating entity of the UNFCCC Financial Mechanism; and a commitment for the further design and operationalizing of the multilateral fund through an ad-hoc committee for inter-sessional work.
It said that the outcome of the Fund’s design and set-up would then be completed by COP28 in 2023.
“The UNFCCC must protect the most vulnerable states in a just transition, leaving no one behind, or risk being viewed as a critical failure in the system,” CARICOM related.
It added “…the Ministers noted that financing for the Region’s sustainable development and climate secure future is of paramount importance. As the Region’s small and highly vulnerable states continue to adapt, building (their) social resilience is even more critical.”
The Ministers also noted that domestic resources are being stretched to the limits as the Region confronts a constant cycle of financing disaster recovery and rebuilding, even as it endeavours to develop low-carbon, climate-resilient pathways. Additionally, the need for the developed countries to deliver on their goal to achieve the US$100 billion floor per year by 2023 and make a commitment to a transformative new climate finance goal in 2025, was highlighted.
They reiterated the call for climate finance to be disbursed in addition to Official Development Assistance (ODA) and in the form of grants over loans so as not to adversely impact the debt profile of low-income and vulnerable countries.
“Ministers underscored that the current climate and development finance architecture is not fit for purpose. It is exceedingly complex, and does not operate efficiently, effectively, or fairly, nor at the speed and scale needed to address the urgent and pressing challenges faced by SIDS. Because many CARICOM Member States do not qualify for concessional funding due to a systemic reliance by international financial institutions and donors on GNI (Gross National Income) per capita for eligibility, they are forced to borrow to survive a crisis which they did not instigate.
“CARICOM considers that the application of GNI per capita undermines the global commitment to SIDS that has international status as a special case for sustainable development and the environment. CARICOM has been leading the charge to make the global development and climate finance architecture more responsive to the unprecedented needs of especially the most vulnerable such as the SIDS,” the statement informed.
The grouping also expressed concerns about the trajectory of the world in relation to combatting climate change.
