African civil society organisations including Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) have doubled up on their demand for up to $8 trillion annually as climate change reparations from industrialised nations to the Global South.
Addressing the media in Abuja on the outcome of the recently concluded COP29 climate talks and the way forward, the CSOs reasoned that the reparation would end the squabbles over climate finances.
The groups backed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR), which requires rich and highly polluting nations that contributed disproportionately to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to own up to their historical responsibility, cut emissions at source and provide finance to help vulnerable nations that have not significantly contributed to the climate crisis.
The Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC held its 29th session in Baku. Azerbaijan on 10-24 November 2024.
Tagged a Finance COP, poor, vulnerable nations were hopeful it would result in a reasonable climate finance deal, especially because the Loss and Damage mechanism agreed to at COP27 in Egypt was endorsed at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Rather, the CSOs said COP29 “failed spectacularly on the finance note and the leader of the Nigerian delegation rightly called the minuscule amount offered an insult.
We applaud the Director-General of the Nigerian Climate Change Commission (NCCC) for her forthright submission.” HOMEF’s Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, said: “Scientists inform us that 2024 is the hottest year on record.
The year has also recorded a high number of disastrous weather events.” The groups faulted the policy of nationally determined contribution