BELÉM, Brazil, Nov 18 (IPS) – Cuts from the United States, United Kingdom and Europe have left a funding gap in climate change programs across Africa.
With the funds needed to finance Africa’s climate plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), reaching trillions of US dollars, they are becoming increasingly difficult to implement.
In 2025, countries are expected to submit their third generation of NDCs, known as NDCs 3.0. To date, 111 countries have submitted their climate plans, an increase from 79 countries before the COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
Under the Paris Agreement, countries must submit an NDC every five years. A collective assessment of progress, known as the Global Stocktake, rates NDCs on their alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The outcome will be included in the next generation of NDCs.
Some of the key issues in the NDCs submitted by African countries such as Zimbabwe, which submitted its climate plan ahead of the original February 10 deadline, include targets to reduce emissions, roll out adaptation initiatives and the transition to green energy.
But without climate finance to implement these initiatives in Africa, these climate plans risk remaining documents. About $3 trillion is needed to support the implementation of NDCs on the continent, while about $2.5 trillion is needed between 2020 and 2030, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Dr. Richard Muyungi, chairman of the Africa Group of Negotiators (AGN), said developing countries must fulfill their promises to African countries to implement their NDCs. “The issue is simple: developing countries cannot rely on vague guarantees. We need clear, concrete commitments from developed countries, but few have made new financial commitments,” he said at a press conference in Belem. “It is an obligation, not an option.”
Of the estimated $3 trillion, approximately $264 billion has been committed by African leaders through domestic resources, while the remaining amount is expected to come from international public and private resources.
African negotiators said that without this crucial climate financing, developing countries will be forced to resort to loans, leaving these climate-affected countries exposed to debt as they grapple with the effects of climate change they did not cause.
Africa contributes less than 4 percent of the emissions that cause climate change. But they are the hardest hit by climate disasters, such as drought, extreme heat and floods.
Africa’s future is under pressure from a mix of debt and climate pressure.
There is a significant financial gap in climate finance in Africa.
Climate disasters cost between 5 and 15 percent of GDP annually. Yet there is a significant financial gap in climate finance on the continent.
As climate shocks hit harder and more often, destroying infrastructure, claiming the lives of many and taking their toll on crops and livestock, most African governments are forced to borrow and later spend more on interest payments than on other issues such as health and education.
Professor Carlos Lopes, COP30 Special Envoy for Africa, said climate financing to Africa for the implementation of their NDCs should not leave these countries in debt. “Mixed and hybrid financing often camouflages the fact that commercial conditions are expanding. These instruments do not multiply financing; they simply bring in more commercial money,” he said at a press conference at COP30. “We need to pay attention when practice does not match promise,” he said.
Mitigation accounts for more than half of reported needs, about 66 percent, with the rest for adaptation.
It is foreign aid that has funded some of Africa’s climate programs, including mitigation and adaptation. But in January, when President Donald Trump came to power, US funding was cut off. Other Western countries followed suit.
African countries can only hold rich countries that emit more during the COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
Developing countries are counting on the new climate finance target, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCGQ), which replaces the unfulfilled pledge of $100 billion with $300 billion.
The Baku to Belem Roadmap aims to raise $1.3 trillion annually for developing countries by 2030.
African countries urgently need financing to combat the climate crisis.
Evans Njewa, chairman of the Least Developed Countries (MOL) Group on Climate Change, said last year that rich countries agreed to start a new era of climate finance, but after a year of devastating climate impacts that have destroyed livelihoods, increased food insecurity and left the least developed countries with staggering bills, pockets are still empty.
“We didn’t start this fire, but we are being handed the bill. The rich country’s bill. It’s time to pay it,” he said. “The $1.3 trillion roadmap is just a starting point; execution and accountability are the real tests of success.”
As COP30 enters its second week, there are fears about the lack of climate finance commitments. At COP29 in Baku, developed countries agreed to work towards the agreed $300 billion per year. But so far, no significant funding has been pledged at COP30.
Michael Mwansa, Climate Justice Coordinator at Action Aid ZambiaThe countries of the Global North, which are driving the current climate crisis, cannot expect lower-emitting Africa to deliver on its NDCs without financing. “This is hypocrisy,” he told the IPS.
Kuda Manjonjo, Just Energy Transition advisor at Powershift Africaa climate think tank based in Africa, said African countries need financing to achieve their climate ambitions to solve the climate crisis. “You need money to support your ambition. It’s like having a cow, NDCs, that is not fed. How do you expect to get milk, which is a solution to the climate crisis?” he told the IPS.
This feature was published with the support of Open Society Foundations.
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