Wrong direction

Africa fears backsliding on climate action amid global crises

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This article is part of the dossier:

Africa and the economic storm

By Julian Pecquet

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Posted on October 13, 2022 10:45

A woman stands at her front door after heavy rains caused flood damage in KwaNdengezi, Durban,
A woman stands at her front door after heavy rains caused flood damage in KwaNdengezi, Durban, South Africa, April 12, 2022. REUTERS/Rogan Ward

Exasperated African finance officials are using this week’s World Bank and IMF meetings to press their richer counterparts to deliver on aid promises as concurrent shocks cause global backsliding on climate action.

Meeting on 12 October just weeks before the COP27 summit in Egypt, the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action offered countries most affected by rising temperatures a chance to vent their frustrations. As the rich countries continue to fall far short of their promise to provide $100bn a year to poorer ones, rising energy prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have only reinforced reliance on fossil fuels.

“What we’ve been discussing is new and innovative ways that must be explored to enable us to meet the transition to net-zero commitments,” Nigerian finance minister Zainab Ahmed tells The Africa Report. “[…] for us African countries, we’re emphasising the need for developed countries to meet the commitments that they made [in the 2015 Paris accord] and also for the whole of the financing community to make sure that there is an adequate mix between financing for adaptation as well as for mitigation.”

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