several low-lying islands in the South Pacific uninhabitable for as many as 350,000 people, although they are said to account for less than one per cent of global carbon emissions. Accordingly, the government of South Africa, last week, vowed to lobby for more investment for developing countries to assist them to tackle the climate crisis, at the global summit in Glasgow.
Participating in a briefing on Friday (22 October) in Pretoria Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, noted that developing nations such as South Africa need sustainable and cost effective financing from wealthier nations to implement their emissions targets and fulfil their energy transition plans.
“COP26 must re-establish trust between developed and developing nations by ensuring existing financing commitments are honoured. Equally important is to start the process for determining a new and more ambitious post 2025 finance mobilisation goal from developed countries for developing countries from a floor of US$ 100 billion per year,” she said.
The minister went on to acknowledge that discussions regarding climate financing will not be easy considering the differences between the views of developed and developing economies regarding the matter. “Although countries have committed to open and transparent discussions… the greatest challenge is expected to be finance issues where huge differences exist between developed and developing countries on the finance required for developing and [the] least developed countries to meet the challenges posed by climate change,” she noted.
