The UN COP27 summit in Egypt concluded on Sunday with an agreement for a fund to help vulnerable countries cope with “loss and damage” from devastating climate impacts.
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa on Sunday hailed a landmark United Nations agreement on funding to help vulnerable countries manage the effects of climate change, but said “further urgent action” was required.
The UN COP27 summit in Egypt concluded on Sunday with an agreement for a fund to help vulnerable countries cope with “loss and damage” from devastating climate impacts.
“While we welcome the incremental progress reflected in the… finance package towards setting the new collective target by 2025, we believe that more urgent action is required to meet the obligations of developed countries,” the ministry said. of Environmental Affairs of South Africa in a statement. statement.
At the start of the talks, President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose coal-dependent country is among the world’s top polluters, criticized international funders for making it harder for poorer nations to access aid to combat climate change.
He told the climate summit that support from multilateral organizations “is out of reach for the majority of the world’s population due to risk-averse lending policies that carry onerous costs and conditionalities.”
He also urged funding institutions to “transform” the way they finance projects.
The government statement on Sunday said the agreement reached in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, “correctly frames the climate crisis and its solutions in terms of the sustainable development goals and Just Transitions, leaving no one behind, and the need to broader reform of the financial sector to achieve them.
