At COP27 there were a multitude of competing interests and voices seeking the world’s attention. But one thing that became clear was the chorus of small and often vulnerable states demanding justice now and at scale to address their concerns and the difficulties they face. Despite the progress made in the 30 years since the first Conference of the Parties in Rio, the crucial issue of climate justice remains misplaced.
At its core, climate justice aims to support the most vulnerable people and places facing the direct and most dramatic effects of the climate crisis. Consider the enormous role that some actors have played in the cause of the crisis and their responsibility in supporting those most affected.
To address this injustice while also meeting ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions to net zero, we will need an estimated $4 trillion each year by 2030. This includes unprecedented investment in deploying technologies to accelerate the energy transition. But climate finance flows in 2021 only reached around $630 billion, only one sixth of what is required. Clearly this is not enough and is biased; private actors, which are the main source of capital, operate in only a handful of countries.
Although home to a small fraction of the world’s population and contributing less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face existential risk from climate change. For them, climate justice is a matter of survival, and yet they remain consistently underrepresented in access to climate finance, attracting just 2% of the global total for 2013-18.
And the funding of the ocean is pitiful. Sustainable development goal 14 is the least funded of all the goals, with less than 2% of the Green Climate Fund allocated to ocean actions. If we are going to tackle climate change, we have no choice but to expand all sources of climate finance. Governments must play their part and keep their promises, but the private sector must too.
Historically, developed nations committed at COP15 in 2009 to provide $100 billion a year to less wealthy nations by 2020 to assist adaptation and mitigation efforts. But developed nations have fallen short of this promise, and this systemic failure by developed nations to deliver on their commitments strikes a jarring note. Despite the new promises and promises, this unreliability has been well noted by those who depended on that promise.
The shortage of climate funds is exacerbating the current economic difficulties facing the least developed countries (LDCs) and SIDS. Projected losses from climate change for SIDS are estimated to be up to 6.5% of GDP per year, in stark contrast to the global average of 0.5%. Although the historic outcome of the COP27 summit with the establishment of a loss and damage fund is a very welcome step, the threats facing LDCs and SIDS continue to intensify.
At COP27, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, made headlines with the ambitious Bridgetown Initiative, a policy systems initiative that aims to work collaboratively with stakeholders to redesign the global financial architecture to truly reflect vulnerability. and breaking down many of the current climate finance hurdles for LDCs and SIDS.
Too often, the debate over climate change finance and other development issues boils down to limited analysis of raw GDP numbers or debt ratios rather than a more nuanced understanding of how economies work and the unique challenges they face. smaller and more vulnerable nations face. To contribute to this debate, the Commonwealth Secretariat launched its Universal Vulnerability Index (UVI) (2021), which is designed to capture more refined information on a nation’s state of vulnerability and resilience.
The UVI separates the measures of structural resilience and structural vulnerability, therefore placing less emphasis on the snapshot of nominal GDP and constructing a loose classification of a country’s rebuilding capacity.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is taking targeted action through initiatives such as the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, a proven Commonwealth initiative to help small and vulnerable member states access finance and scale up climate action. The hub launched in 2016 and has already helped member states mobilize millions of dollars in climate finance with hundreds of millions in the pipeline.
Another recent project, the They Future, Our Action project, a collaboration between the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Center for Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRSD) at the University of Cambridge, embarks on innovative action-based research to support the deployment of greater sustainability. related funds in SIDS by redesigning how climate and resilience finance is accessed. The project has already paid off, unlocking more than $10 million in private financing for small island developing states. A key outcome of the research so far is the recognition of the vast untapped assets of SIDS in their young populations and in their natural assets that could be harnessed to catalyze increased flows of climate finance to SIDS. A key part of the project is to develop investment measures that reward SIDS for good stewardship of their natural assets.
For the world to come together and address the real and pressing problems facing LDCs and SIDS, it is essential that developed countries honor their commitments and promises to provide financing and related technical assistance. All promises must be kept and all options explored to enable Commonwealth member states, indeed all countries everywhere, to adequately tackle the immense task of climate change.
If we fail in this task and fall into disharmony and discord, we will fail not only this generation but all future generations and will inevitably see the diverse chorus of small and vulnerable states succumb to the worst effects of climate change and lose their voices to forever.
Patricia Scotland is Secretary General of the Commonwealth.
Dr. Nazia Mintz Habib, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, is the founder of the Center for Resilience and Sustainable Development.
