Least developed countries call for more climate finance at COP27

The Group of Least Developed Countries (LDC) is demanding that its demands for climate finance be met at the UN Climate Summit COP27, to be held next November in Egypt.

In a statement issued late on Monday after a ministerial meeting in Dakar, the group, made up of 46 countries (mostly African), stressed that “the climate crisis cannot be adequately addressed without capturing the demands of the most vulnerable countries.”

“COP27 will be a critical moment for our nations as we continue our fight for climate justice, securing climate finance to protect our people from the impacts of a climate crisis to which they contributed little,” said LDC climate negotiation chief Madeleine Diouf Sarr.

According to Sarr, the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, as recommended by the Paris Agreement (2015), is “a lifeline” for those countries.

“Anything above that is a death sentence,” says the representative of the poorest countries, where “the climate crisis has caused destruction and devastation.”

“The impacts of climate change,” he warns, “will only increase in intensity and frequency, adding to the burdens on our nations, delaying our development efforts and leading to irrecoverable losses.”

The group considers it “crucial” that they increase their capacities to adapt to the “inevitable impacts” of climate change and, therefore, call on developed countries to fulfill their promise to “double financing for adaptation”.

“At COP27, we must see a plan for the delivery of these promised funds,” Sarr demands, recalling that “a continuous flow of financing is one of the objectives of the Paris Agreement and a vital element in the fight against climate change.”

Developed countries, he adds, “must make up for the shortfall in the delivery of the $100 billion agreed in climate finance annually.”

In 2009, rich countries pledged $100 billion annually at COP15 (Copenhagen) by 2020 to help poor countries combat the climate crisis and build greener economies.

Source: Swissinfo