Dramatic changes to the global economic and geopolitical landscape over the past year have had an impact on the approach countries take at the COP27 climate negotiations kicking off in less than a month in Egypt.
This was according to environment minister Barbara Creecy, who addressed local stakeholders on Monday on SA’s expectations for the global climate conference.
However, developed countries should use COP27 “to rebuild trust with developing nations by narrowing the gap between pledges and actual implementation”, she said.
Strained relations between the US and China, as well as Russia and Ukraine, were some of the factors that have disrupted global supply chains, generating inflationary pressure and food and energy insecurity.
“We don’t expect these events to prevent an outcome from COP27, or to derail the conference, but they will no doubt have an impact. There are already indications that we are unlikely to see greater climate ambition, and we will probably not see new commitments about providing means for [climate action] implementation for developing countries,” Creecy said.
SA hopes the conference addresses important questions about financing and technical support for climate mitigation and adaptation in Africa and other developing regions.
More funding, she said, had to be made available for climate adaptation programmes. Clear goals and targets must be set and linked to “concrete” finance.
The cost of climate adaptation in Africa was estimated at between $26bn and $41bn per year between 2020 and 2030, but there was less money available for adaptation than for mitigation.
In addition, said Creecy, much of the climate and transition finance that has been made available was “difficult to quantify and it was not predictable”.
Given the “enormity” of the resources that will be required by developing countries over the next 10 to 15 years, it will not be possible to meet all financing needs with climate funding alone, she said. It would also require a transformation in multilateral development finance to better equip and support developing countries.
“Most financing that is available is in the form of loan financing. Many developing countries are already facing heavy indebtedness, which means we need finance made available that will not add to the burden that these countries are already facing.”
She referred to Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) through which the UK, US, France, Germany and the EU have committed to mobilise R8.5bn to support SA’s transition to a low-carbon economy. The JETP investment plan is expected to be endorsed by the partner countries at COP27, which Creecy said would be of interest to other countries that will want to consider whether it provides a transition finance model their own countries could consider.
The cost of climate adaptation in Africa was estimated at between $26bn and $41bn per year between 2020 and 2030
High on the agenda will be the advancement of discussions on the “special needs and conditions for Africa”.
Alongside the continent’s financing needs, which required “special consideration” given the indebtedness of many African countries, special conditions should also apply because Africa has contributed less than 4% to the build-up of global emissions — yet the continent is one of those most heavily affected, said Creecy.
SA and its negotiating partners will also be advocating for “more mitigation action by developed countries as opposed to backtracking”.
“Developed counties, who are responsible for the climate crisis, have to honour commitments that were tabled at [COP26] in Glasgow,” she said.
SA’s revised nationally determined contribution (NDC), which was submitted at COP26 in Glasgow last year, committed the country to reduce domestic carbon emissions within a target range of between 350-million tonnes and 420-million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. That would be a reduction of about 20%-33% from current emissions by 2030.
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