(CU)_It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a major economic downturn across the globe, having particularly grave effect on developing countries, which have found themselves deeply indebted following the global health crisis. While these nations have never refused to acknowledge climate change as an ongoing crisis that must be treated with utmost urgency, they are helpless in the face of the crisis, as they are unable to access the required technology and financial aid. This has left them particularly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, and the pandemic has only aggravated the situation further.
Accordingly, the United Nation’s development chief, this week, warned the United Kingdom that as the host of the COP26, that mush focus must be given to these developing nations if it hopes to make the global climate a success. “For developing countries at this juncture, a sense of recognising their dilemmas is extremely important. They do not need to be told that climate change is important, that everybody has to do more,” UN development programme’ executive director Achim Steiner told The Guardian.
“They are under severe stress in the midst of this pandemic, of economic regression, of growing poverty rates. It is critical that the UK is able to echo the genuine and legitimate concerns that developing countries articulate,” he noted.
The long-awaited Conference of the Parties (COP) this year, which will open on Sunday (31 October), has been billed as a last chance for the global community to take collective action to meet the goals set out in the Paris Accord. The event will be attended by 25,000 delegates, including more than 120 heads of state.
However, according to Steiner, the failure to recognise the concerns of developing nations could lead to a breakdown in the talks. “COPs have succeeded when no group of countries had a reason to feel they were overlooked, ignored or dismissed. Inclusiveness is critical. There are countries that feel they were promised financial support and it has hardly materialised. Knowing those sensitivities is part of being well prepared,” he noted.
