Jacques Assahoré Konan, the Ivorian Minister of the Environment, issued this warning two days ago, in the columns of Young Africajust before the end of this COP 29: “ it is necessary to index funding to the real needs of developing countries vulnerable to climate change. Developed countries are still expected to replenish the fund. Sustainable sources of financing should be put in place. It’s urgent. If nothing is done, Ivory Coast’s GDP will fall by 15% by 2050. And more than 1.5 million people will fall into poverty. »
Well, almost nothing has been done in Baku… This “ world climate conference ended amid anger and disappointment for AfricapointeThe World Africa. While the negotiations continued late into the night from Saturday to Sunday, it was with the feeling of having their arm twisted that the African delegates still present in the Azerbaijani capital accepted an agreement which in no way responds to their main expectations. The funding promised for 2035 is “too little, too late and too ambiguous. Africa leaves Baku with realism and resignation because COP29 ends well below our expectations. When Africa loses, the world loses,” lamented Ali Mohamed, the special envoy of Kenyan President William Ruto and spokesperson.word from the Africa group. »
In fact, note again The World Africa« the 300 billion dollars per year extracted from industrialized countries are in fact very far from the 1,300 billion dollars proposed by the continent to be able to finance the needs of the energy transition and adaptation to the increasingly serious consequences of climate change. »
« Could it be otherwise? »
« The big disappointment », sighs The Country in Ouagadougou. “ Could it be otherwise? We are tempted to answer this question in the negative. And for good reason. The COPs, since 1995 (…), have followed one another and are similar. »
In any case, continues the Ouagalais daily, the 300 billion promised “ remain good to take while maintaining pressure in order to obtain better results. But there is still quite a battle for its operationalization. And that is a different story in that the previous promises kept by the same countries of the North have never been honored. Moreover, we must even fear that the coming to power of Donald Trump in the United States will set this world superpower on the path of disengagement in the financing of climate-related projects. »
In fact, adds Today« 300 billion dollars for developing countries at COP29: another promise that binds… no one. »
Actually, ” the negotiators were faced with a dilemma until the last moment. “This agreement does not serve our interests but it was that or nothing, explains a representative of civil societies on the continent interviewed byThe World Africa. We were faced with blackmail in which Europeans in particular used the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House or the rise of far-right parties in power in Europe to make us understand that we had more to lose than to be gained by refusing the agreement. Once again, Africa and the developing countries found themselves against the wall.” »
Voluntarism and responsibility!
So we might as well fend for ourselves, move on Ledjely in Guinea: “ Faced with the phenomenon of climate change, Africa must act with another paradigm. This implies that Africans, driven by a legitimate disappointment due to the unjust behavior of developed countries, do not nevertheless give in to an attitude that is as irresponsible as it is suicidal, which would tend to pretend that climate change did not exist. On the contrary, therefore considers Ledjely, the continent’s leaders must show voluntarism and responsibility in the face of climate peril. (…) And that as a result, they mobilize all internal energies with a view to developing strategies to deal with it. This mechanism, if it is built in such a way that local social and economic actors feel freely concerned, will make it possible to overcome this somewhat demeaning image of an African continent condemned to beg for compassion from the world (…). This is what true sovereignty consists of. And not the one that only serves as a slogan for some today. »
