By: Felix Ikpotor
As over 198 member countries gather in Baku, Azerbaijan for the ongoing Conference of Partners, COP 29 to discuss challenges of climate change and other ecological issues facing the world, a renowned environmental activities, Pastor Nnimmo Bassey has called for the payment of climate debts by polluting countries to cushion the effect of gas emissions on vulnerable countries of the world.
Bassey, who is the Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, stated this while leading other activities at a media conference on the sideline of the ongoing Conference.
He noted that over the years, there has been an alarming exploitation of countries in the southern world and depletion of the climate budget by the globalised nations, stressing that payment of the debt which is estimated at about Five Trillion Dollars would help to ameliorate for the effects of the pollution on the poorer countries of the world who are most hit by the actions of the big countries.
“We must emphasize that over the years there has been an unacceptable level of extraction, exploitation of country’s in the global south especially as well as the taking up of the carbon budget.
“Now when the carbon budget is almost exhausted by the polluting nations and we are struggling to share the burden of climate action not considering the fact that someone has taken off the budget, someone has forced everyone into this crisis and so we are calling for a recognition of that fact and then demanding that we recognise and pay a climate debt which is estimated at about Five Trillion Dollars and to cover the ecological loses, the social loses and well as the economic loses,” he said.
Speaking further, Bassey said climate financing is doable if the more developed countries commits to it, saying; “The issue of climate finance is that we are not talking about something that is undoable. There is sufficient finance in the world to meet the needs of poor, vulnerable and challenged nations and territories. Look at the budget of industrialized and rich nations used for warfares, their spending is huge.”
He cautioned against a situation whereby the COP would be used as an avenue for carbon market speculation which he said gives more room to the polluting countries to further continue in the their life-threatening enterprise while endangering poor nations of the world.
“Carbon speculators are always turning the COP into a trade fair and this is all going to add up to creating more problems for those who are suffering the impact of global warming because carbon trading is not solving the climate problem, it’s only giving the license to the polluters to pollute more and creating carbon colonialism and carbon slavery for countries where communities are now going to be forced to watch over carbon in trees or in the Rivers or soil instead of being helped to adapt to the crisis they did not create,” Bassey stated.
Also speaking, Yvonne Yanez, Director, Accion Ecological, Ecuador insisted that there is need for the polluting countries to take responsibility and carryout reparation and also stop all further emissions.
She said full reparation would be of great benefit to the southern countries of the world who are sufferers of this emissions.
“The benefits for the southern countries of the recognition and repayments of this climate debts, depends on how it’s going to be repaid. If we think about reparations, first of all, we have to stop what’s causing the damage that we want to repair and the damage is climate change and to stop the climate change is to stop the big polluters.
“The second thing is to know what is the ecological debts in terms of the territory. It means a total reparation of the territory where oil and gas has been taken. This is another Principe of the recognition of the climate debt,” she said.
Highlighting further on the benefits of the loss and damage funds to the communities, Stephen Oduware, Programme Manager, HOMEF said if the funds are paid and equitably utilised, it would bring life back to the communities.
“When this funds is given and appropriately used to solve the issues on ground, it would help us and our communities to thrive again, but if this is not done, then our communities would be reduced to mere geographical expressions because our communities would most likely be wiped out because our communities do not have the capacity to respond to the emerging issues from the climate crisis.
“So it is a matter of life and death and just to reiterate the fact that COP 29 has the opportunity to write its name in history for taking the step towards actualizing that,” he added.
Oduware, called for all for a concerted effort from all stakeholders and participants to push for the payment and financing of climate change at the conference.
Our correspondent reports that the theme of this year’s conference is ” In Solidarity for a Green World,” and is fixed for November 11-22, 2024.
