Pre Cop 29

Press Briefing by Greenpeace Africa, and Oil Change International ahead of Cop 29 in Azerbaijan.

This press briefing was addressed by Amos Wemanya, Fred Njehu and Antony Otieno of Greenpeace Africa as well as Charity Migwi of Oil Change International. Antony Otieno is a survivor of Mai Mahiu flooding tragedy as well as a volunteer with Greenpeace Africa. Ahead of Cop 19 in Azerbaijan we demand decisive actions. 

Recently we had floods in Kenya, cyclones in Mozambique where thousands died and floodings in Kwazulu Natal and Eastern Cape in South Africa. We currently have flooding in Nigeria affecting 11 states. At the Cop 29, African countries should mobilize for international climate financing to become effective. The negotiations should involve different African countries proposing what they need in their specific needs with climate adaptation. 

Obligations of the Paris Agreement should be honoured. Countries that had committed to help should do so. The Climate Finance as is currently constituted has very insignificant impact upon African countries. 

Practical Kenyan example on the effects of climate change. On 29th April 2024, residents of Mai Mahiu had their lives turned around for the worse. In the early hours of the morning, half of a village was washed away. A huge volume of water came downhill causing a loss of lives. Large parts of the area that were covered with crops, livestock and human settlements had nothing left as it was completely devastating. People lost their farming land, livestock and livelihoods. Such an example as explained above can be eliminated by Climate Finance Funds being released for the right purpose where it is needed. This way, people who lost livelihoods can be able to restart their lives. 

When such disasters happens like the one described above, climate financing should be available to assist. Africa contributes only 4% of climate pollution but the effects are extremely devastating to Africa. Climate financing to the global south usually comes in the form of loans that have to be paid back which is unfair. Africa is the continent paying the price for this unfair arrangement. 

Over 30 years of talks have not yielded any concrete decisions to help African countries. We need to establish a new quantified goal during Cop 29. How many families should be displaced? How many livelihoods should be lost? How many lives should be lost before concrete decisions are taken? Dragging their feet by world leaders is by design. Fossil fuel owners want to continue making huge profits as Africa suffers. The fossils industry is distracting any efforts to address the losess and damages from climate change destruction. 

Carbon offsets are not the solution since they do not help to reduce carbon emissions. Instead it is displacing communities from their homes to pave way for imaginary carbon credits. Such land would be more beneficial if used for agricultural production. We have plenty of arable land that should be used productively in farming as it has been in the past before carbon credits were introduced to Africa.  This is not the time for African goverrnments to gamble with carbon offtsets. We need to find solutions to the climate challenges on our continent. Also support is needed in renewable energy in order to be able to irrigate farms whenever the rains fail. The world has enough resources to mitigate climate change but developed countries prefer to channel such resources to other non-meaningful activities such as purchasing weapons of war. 

The Climate Financing model should be changed and worked upon so it can be beneficial to Africans. A big polluter like USA contributes only 17 million dollars. The bigger polluters should increase their financial contributions so that the vulnerable on the global south can access help in times of natural disasters.