Deliver on $100b climate aid pledge, campaigners tell COP28

Non-government actors from most climate-vulnerable countries reminded rich countries of their long-overdue commitment of $100 billion in financing to help low-income countries cope with climate shocks. 

They demanded that global leaders attending the COP28 Global Climate Conference in Dubai needed to take  concrete actions to achieve the 1.5-degree temperature goal outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Civil society leaders of Most Vulnerable Countries (MVCs) placed the demands at a press conference on the sidelines of the global climate summit in the Middle Eastern city, highlighting the critical need for tangible National Determined Contribution (NDC) targets from major carbon emitters, reads a press release.

The press conference, "LDC's and MVC Peoples' Expectations and COP 28," was attended by representatives from various civil society organisations, including Md Ziaul Hoque Mukta of CSRL, Md Shamsuddoha of Centre for Participatory Research and Development, Shamim Arfeen of AoSED, Atle Solberg of Platform on Disaster Displacement, Samah Hadid of Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and Lidy Nacpil of Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development. 

Presenting the keynote address, Aminul Hoque from EquityBD, Bangladesh emphasied the challenge associated with the enforceability of the Paris Agreements, pointing out the absence of monitoring and reporting mechanisms for carbon emission reduction. 

He criticised the COP 28 presidency for denying the scientific basis behind achieving the Zero Emission target through the phased-out of fossil fuels. 

As outlined by Aminul, the participating organisations demanded that developed countries must follow scientific progress and set a realistic target to achieve the 1.5-degree temperature goal, and they must pay their cumulative overdue of $100 billion climate finance as promised, 

They stressed that discourse of new and collective finance should be designed on focusing the MVCs priorities and non-debt instrumental, and the synthesising of the National Adaptation Plan should be defined as the GGA [Global Goal on Adaptation].

Md Shamsuddoha of the Centre for Participatory Research and Development stressed the importance of establishing a mandatory timeline for submitting long-term mitigation strategies, holding all parties accountable for a low-emission pathway, and achieving zero emissions by 2050 with a political commitment. 

He called for ambitious NDCs coherent with the 1.5-degree Celsius target, based on the latest scientific findings.

Lidy Nacpil said the international financial institutions and the global northern governments who largely control public finance must stop their overreliance on the private sector. 

"We urgently need public finance policy, priorities, and governance to push to a 1.5-degree aligned, just transition, rooted in collective wellbeing and global and local equity. To do this, we will need to transform public finance institutions to be equitable, democratic, rights-upholding, sustainable, and transparent," she said. 

Atle Solberg expressed deep concern about displacement, which is one of the major problems that is looming large in the present and future context across the globe.

He called for effective measures to support countries to address the climate-induced displacement through ensuring their rights locally and nationally.

Shamim Arfeen said that global leaders need to change their mindset to make the finance pro poor. 

Samah Hadid shared concerns about the rate of climate change occurring in the Middle East and North Africa and the lack of resources and financing for fragile and conflict-affected contexts in the region. 

Ziaul Hoque Mukta of CSRL called for challenging the COP Presidency's statement on end of fossil fuel delivered on 3 December, which is against the fundamental context established the climate science and the formation of UNFCCC, said the media release.