South Africa is urging for stronger climate finance commitments at the upcoming United Nations global climate conference, COP29, scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22. Dion George, South Africa’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, emphasized the need for more substantial financial pledges during national stakeholder consultations held this Monday.
George highlighted that the current climate financing mechanisms are insufficient in both scale and effectiveness, underscoring the critical need for a new financing model. He stated, “COP29 presents an opportunity to advocate for innovative and improved financial frameworks that can mobilize substantial resources more efficiently. Such a model must ensure predictable, accessible, and adequate funding, address the shortcomings of existing systems, and empower countries like South Africa to implement ambitious climate actions.”
The minister pointed out that the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance is expected to be established during the conference, a development that is particularly significant for developing economies like South Africa. He expressed hope that COP29 will accelerate the provision of financial, technical, and capacity-building resources, enabling developing countries to meet the conditional targets outlined in their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans.
George emphasized the pressing need for resources to mitigate climate risks, enhance resilience, and pursue inclusive and sustainable development. “Access to finance must be significantly scaled up to offer new, additional, and predictable funding that is fit for purpose. Specifically, we need grants and highly concessional financing that can be effectively allocated to create enabling environments for rapid investments,” he said. “By de-risking investments and creating new asset classes for clean technologies, we can unlock and leverage greater amounts of public and private finance.”
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
