COP 17 Must Ensure Rich Nations Honor Their Climate Change Funding Promises

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Monday said without enough funding from rich nations many developing countries especially in Africa will not respond "effectively" to climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

In a document titled: "Adaptation finance: How can Durban deliver on past promises?" released four days ahead of the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to kick start in Durban Friday, IIED outlines three steps to ensure developed countries meet their agreed commitments to help poorer nations adapt to climate change.

"Money has yet to flow to meet even the most urgent adaptation needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDC)," author of the document David Ciplet said.

IIED is an independent international research organization. It work with some of the world's most vulnerable people to ensure they have a say in the policy arenas that most closely affect them- - from village councils to international conventions.

"Without adequate and predictable funding, developing countries most vulnerable to climate change cannot respond effectively. All of the talk about adaptation in Cancun will mean little unless reliable funding sources are established in Durban," Ciplet who is also with Brown University in the United States said.

According to IIED there is an ever-widening chasm between the support developing countries need to adapt to climate change, and the funding promised and delivered by wealthy nations.

Nearly 200 governments will meet in South Africa to negotiate further action to address climate change during the COP17.

The IIED document analyses the five key promises rich countries have already made but finds "these nations have yet to show" how they can meet these commitments.

In 2009, developed nations promised 30 billion U.S. dollars between 2010 and 2012, and 100 billion U.S. dollars a year by 2020 to enable developing nations to adapt to climate change and reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases.

At last year's United Nations (UN) climate change conference in Cancun, nations reiterated these pledges and specified that funding for adaptation should be adequate, fairly shared between donors, balanced with funding for mitigation, targeted on a needs basis, and governed well.

But the IIED new analysis shows that these promises are not being met – and these means poor countries will find it "harder to adapt to climate change".

"Negotiators who gather in Durban can correct this situation with three ways (which are) adopting a transparent, centralized accounting system. Establishing funding sources based on international trade and defining annual targets to scale up the total funding for adaptation," reads the document.

Since Cancun, donor countries have made little progress toward their overall fast-start adaptation target. At only between 19-25 percent of total fast-start finance, adaptation funding is still far from balanced with mitigation, and it lacks transparency. According to the document current adaptation finance also fails to fulfill broader expectations dating back to the original 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that these funds should be adequate to address vulnerable countries' urgent needs.

On Monday, speaking at the Business Briefing held Durban, the host city of COP17, South African President Jacob Zuma said global warming is already having a negative impact in Africa and developing countries "demand a prompt start" for the Fund through its early and initial capitalization.

"The parties that will meet in Durban must take us a step forward to a solution to this challenge," Zuma said.

"In the African context, they must help to strike a balance between ensuring that climate change does not reach dangerous levels on the one hand, and the need to grow our economies to eradicate poverty on the other," he told business leaders.

Meanwhile a group of women from 23 African countries has called on the continents leaders to push for a climate deal that represents the regions development interest.

The delegates met in Pretoria for a two-day conference on Climate Change and Women which started on over the weekend.

According to Buanews, a government website, they said climate change was already affecting development in most emerging economies in Africa and said any deal in Durban should reflect the continent's interests.

Speaking earlier at the conference, International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane vowed to make sure that an African voice is communicated adequately in Durban.

"What we should be demanding is that action must be done, we need to insist on follow ups. We will present these demands and we will make sure that what we have discussed here goes through the final outcome of Durban and beyond," the minister said.

She reminded African countries to ensure that they send strong delegations to Durban to ensure a strong case and dominant African voice.

"We must make it strong, it's our responsibility if women of Africa get together and men do the same nothing can stand in our way...we must make sure the African union is properly constituted and represented."

African women also needed to think of forming a continental coordinated body that can deal with issues of climate change beyond the Durban conference.

Also addressing conference delegates, ANC national chairperson Baleka Mbete noted that there was an increased hardship experienced by woman across the continent as a result of the severe impacts of climate change.

"These are the women who live in rural areas, the poorest of the poor...they are confused by the changing patens in weather which is impacting on food production and survival," she said.

Mbete called on policy makers to ensure that women were "prioritized" as South Africa embarks on new investments towards renewable energy as part of the broader green economy initiatives.

"We want to see women taking a leadership role in job creation in the green economy sector, they must be given opportunities to participate in renewable energy investments as part of acknowledging their role in fighting climate change," she said.