COP27: Developing Countries Take Strong Position To Demand Financing From Developed Nations – ANEEJ

Information from the ongoing United Nations, UN global climate change summit tagged COP27 in Egypt, indicated that financing for the loss and damage to support developing countries has been included in the agenda for global discuss.

Africa Network For Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ Programme Manager, Innocent Edemhanria who is currently in Egypt confirmed that the agenda for global discuss to finance frontline countries by developed nations has been added for discussion.

It was gathered that President Joe Biden of the United States of America, King Charles of the United Kingdom, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia are expected to attend this year climate change negotiations meeting currently holding in Egypt.

Egypt’s ambassador reportedly said King Charles III still has an open invitation to attend the climate change summit.

The annual United Nations global climate change summit, Cop27, began on Sunday November 6, and the event will last till November 18, 2022.

The conference will again see world leaders and their teams of negotiators come together to thrash out deals to safeguard the future of the planet.

Cop27 is an open event to all parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the treaty signed by many nations at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ANEEJ in its report said: “The COP27 open officially 10pm on November 6th 2022. The conference president said it’s conference for concrete action.

“So far I have been able to confirm that financing for loss and damages to support Frontline countries have been put on the agenda for discussion, as against what happened at previous COP.

“Developing countries have positioned themselves to demand huge financing from developed countries.

“This is in line with our demands as reflected on the sign on letter. As at now, real discussions have not started, World leaders are arriving one by one and side events have also not started”.

Jennifer Allan and Rishikesh Ram Bhandary in a Carbon brief media report in October, highlighted issues that maybe raised at the ongoing global climate negotiations holding at the Egypt town of Sharma el-Sheikh.

The media report reads thus:

When nations gather in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for another round of UN climate negotiations in November, things may get off to a rocky start.

There has been talk of an “agenda fight” at the opening of COP27 as developing countries want “loss and damage” finance added to the formal list of issues that are up for discussion. They could face resistance from developed countries.

Such disagreements have become routine in recent years and can either be smoothed over pre-COP or lead to drawn-out, public disagreements. In 2013, one arm of the process did not meet at all because most parties did not agree to Russia’s bid for a new agenda item.

It will be up to the Egyptian presidency to broker a deal on the loss-and-damage question before COP27, or the opening may signal fractured views rather than momentum for climate action.

Whatever the outcome, it is clear that agendas are worth fighting over. Once an issue is on the agenda, negotiations can go ahead with a procedural armour that protects the topic and hopefully leads to outcomes and decisions.

Meanwhile, ANEEJ Executive Director, Reverend David Ugolor in a separate meeting holding in Nairobi, Kenya has confirmed the commencement of the Global South Forum on Asset Recovery.

He said participants at the Forum are drawn from Civil Societies working on different Asset Recovery issues.

Adding, the agenda for discussion included spotlight on complex cases, National Experience and cases sharing, Anti-corruption sanctions and the role of victims in asset recovery, management and repatriation, prevention of theft of state funds, transnational network against kleptocracy and discussion on African Union and AU Common Position on Asset Recovery, (CAPAR).

“The first Global South Forum on Asset Recovery will provide opportunity for activists and practitioners to network and exchange good practices and also come up with common position that we can use collectively and individually for global, regional and National advocacy”, David Ugolor said in a statement on Monday morning.