
By Jeff Kapembwa
Brazil has earmarked BRL 4.7 billion (US$727.3 mln) to host the Conference of Parties (COP) 30 in Belém, Pará, the Amazon areas next November, premised on enhancing the country’s sustainability of the rainforests and other environmental concerns buffeting the country.
In the aftermath of the COP 29 meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan (Dubai) which controversially failed to meet the expectations of the climate change campaigners, many from Africa and having focused chiefly on threats to multilateralism.
The Brazil climate indaba, which comes on the heels of Germany’s Bonn preparatory meetings which closed last week, having sought an urgent transition away from fossil fuels, Brazil has stepped up in earnest preparations to host the annual global event.
It is also packaged to address various concerns including a just transition to a low-carbon economy, while ensuring the transition is equitable and sustainable.
Brazil’s climate summit, set for Nov. 10-21, organisers have set up priorities to among others seek to address deforestation and addressing sustainability and other environmental concerns as espoused under the Paris Agreement.
Partnering with various municipalities and other interest groups, authorities have set aside over US$700 million in putting up and face-lifting urban infrastructure, water supply, transportation, and accommodation.
Renovations are underway on public roads, sanitation systems, and water supply to improve the city’s infrastructure.
Investments are being made to improve transportation in and around Belém, including expanding bus routes and modernizing the airport.
In anticipation of a flurry of participants at the COP 30, authorities are renovating venues among like the Ver-o-Peso Complex and the São Brás Market, and the São Joaquim Linear Park is being constructed.
Meanwhile discussion on the financing to mitigate the climate change impact in Africa and other parts of the world, chiefly Least Developed Nationals have heightened with some interest groups propping up the need for self-sustenance of countries-financially.
Research findings by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) shows that while climate finance has grown at unprecedented rates in recent years, reaching US$ 1.46 trillion in 2022, these flows still fall short of global needs.
CPI’s estimates that a staggering US$ 7.4 trillion a year globally through 2030 is needed, of which at least US$ 2.4 trillion is needed for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), excluding China.
In addition, EMDEs are often the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite their relatively low contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Africa is cited as one of the most climate-vulnerable regions—historically experiencing annual losses of 10-15% of GDP due to climate change—yet its mitigation and adaptation action is severely underfunded.
The continent’s annual climate flows in 2021/22 accounted for only 23% of the estimated amount required to implement African countries’ NDCs and meet their climate goals by 2030.
Many vulnerable EMDE countries require substantial international support to meet their climate objectives.
The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) established at COP29 sets a new target for developed countries to mobilize finance for climate action in developing countries at US$ 300 billion annually by 2035.
Three times larger than the US$ 100 billion per year set at COP15 in 2009, the new commitment also highlights the need to further mobilize and unlock other pools of capital to meet the needs.
This gap in financial commitments also brings renewed attention to the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which outline each country’s climate action plans.
Annual climate finance needs of EMDEs as outline in existing NDCs is USD 400 billion. Only 13% of these needs are classified as being fundable through domestic public sources (referred to as “unconditional” contributions).
The remaining climate finance gap will require international funding (“conditional”).
And the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), looks beyond the earlier pledged US$100 billion per annum financing by major polluters, Japan, US, China, India, and Russia as being insignificant.
This was, after it failed to meet the increasing demand for mitigation, given the extent of damage to the earth.
It argues, the $100 billion per year goal, which rich countries pledged to mobilize by 2020, is now widely seen as insufficient to meet the needs of developing countries, says the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
It suggests affected nations to collaborate and seek to co-exist with multilateral development banks, specialized climate funds (like the Green Climate Fund and Climate Investment Funds), and national development banks as sources of local financing.
The Boon meeting, a key event in the lead-up to the annual UN climate summit (COP) , says self-financing by countries should be encouraged as global trends start dictating the assistance to be rendered to the needy.
While the Bonn meeting itself doesn’t set a specific financing target, it’s a crucial space for negotiating the scale of future climate finance needs.
Developing countries require at least $6 trillion by 2030 to meet their climate goals. Global climate finance needs are estimated to be around $7.4 trillion per year by 2030.
This comes, with at least $2.4 trillion specifically needed for emerging markets and developing economies according to CP1 findings.
Last year, global climate campaigners settled for US$ 300 billion annual climate finance commitment, making it a first step to help fill the climate finance gap.
The upcoming updates of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2025 offer a further opportunity for actors to work together and enable the scaling up of financing from all public and private sources.