As the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) gets underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, many African countries are again in the lead advocating for effective measures to heed their needs in addressing the adverse impacts of climate change. This year’s COP is being held in Baku from the 11^th November 2024 – the 22^nd November 2024. As the finance COP, this upcoming COP will provide a platform to pivotal discussions on climate finance, resilience and adaptation, and the urgent call for implementation of the previous agreements, particularly the Paris Agreement which was adopted in 2015.

Climate finance stays a critical issue, with a vast majority of African states becoming increasingly saddled by the consequences of climate change both in terms of climate impacts and financial pressures. Most African countries are extremely indebted, constrained by fiscal consolidation conditions, and unmanageable debt to GDP ratios and thus hindering the ability to invest in climate mitigation or adaption infrastructure. The concern of debt is so severe that it stifles nations from distributing adequate resources on health, education, and sectors with much less expenditure for climate change mitigation. As climate disruptions intensify, industries such as agriculture, forestry and other economic sectors which are vulnerable to the climate are exposed to substantial risk. African states continue to suffer disproportionately from floods, droughts, and cyclones, and the cost of restoring the affected areas is high. As most countries are struggling to access adequate climate finance, they face a dilemma of prioritizing debt servicing over climate resilience.

Africa has notable gaps in climate finance that is targeted for resilience and adaptation. The developed countries at the COP15 meeting in 2009 agreed to commit $100 billion annually towards climate finance for developing countries. Although the goal of $100 billion for climate finance was reached in 2022, this has not been achieved in previous years, leaving a cumulative short fall of approximately $194-$366 billion in adaptation financing. This highlights the challenges in mobilising sufficient adaptation finance and private sector investment. For African states, this funding gap means that appropriate infrastructure projects that could enable communities to withstand harsh weather conditions are lagging. Adaptation and resilience finance would establish the funding to build compelling infrastructure, preserve ecosystems, and buffer agriculture-reliant economies. For instance, adaptation financing could facilitate the development of sea walls to slow down the rising sea levels, fund climate-resistant water infrastructure, and augment farming practices to accommodate changes in climate as well as safeguard food security despite shifting weather patterns.

The Paris Agreement has put in place specific goals of aspiring to limit the global temperature increase to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and preferably, to 1.5°C. Nonetheless, world emissions have not been cut sufficiently, and African states bear the effects of this slow process. The recent reports from the IPCC indicate that without improvements, global warming will have even more profound consequences, and Africa already suffers the consequences of climate change as heat increases the effects of droughts, floods, and resource shortages. COP29 ought to put pressure on the developed countries in the implementation of the Paris Agreement goals. As noted by many African scholars, Africa is not an emitter but a sink, has a small fraction of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions yet this is the region that is most at risk from climate change impacts.

One of the core priorities that African negotiators should raise at COP 29 is the outstanding climate finance. The $100 billion pledge has only been partly realized and the bulk of the funding that does materialize arrives in the form of loans, exacerbating the debt problem. During COP 29, African countries need to demand more credibility from donor countries in these commitments, proposing a system that delivers such assistance to the indigent nations. Furthermore, African states must continue to advocate for climate justice and funding restructuring during COP29. The need to integrate mechanisms of obtaining debt relief linked with climate finance must remain on the agenda, for instance, debt swaps for climate, in order to access necessary funds for climate-related adaptation and resilience. Moreover, African leaders should necessitate the need for sufficient climate finance for funding crucial sectors such as resilient infrastructure, food security and reliable water resources, sustainable cities among others, which is consistent with climate finance goals. Industrialised countries should deliver on previous climate finance commitments and African leaders should call for compliance with the Paris Agreement and enhancement of emission reduction targets. Additionally, is the need to operationalize the fund for compensation of nations that are already suffering from the detrimental impacts of climate change that amount to loss and damage.

There is no room for delay. Africa’s representation at COP29 should call for just climate change measures and advocate for global solidarity and the restructuring of financing for development. Transcending past inequities, meeting current obligations, and addressing the needs of the climate vulnerable regions must be central in the mission of a just, fair, and sustainable global climate action.

Asanda Koyo is a research assistant at the Institute for Global Dialogue associated with UNISA and a Master of Commerce in Applied Development Economics candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the IGD.