African nations push for more climate finance ahead of COP27

African ministers meeting in Cairo two months ahead of the COP27 climate summit called on Friday, 9 September, for a sharp expansion of climate financing for their continent while pushing back against an abrupt move away from fossil fuels. Nigerian finance minister Zainab Ahmed. Source: Reuters/James Lawler Duggan Egypt, an oil and gas producer considered highly vulnerable to climate change, has positioned itself as a champion for African interests as it prepares to host the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in November. A communique released after a three-day forum for finance, economy and environment ministers said Africa benefited from less than 5.5% of global climate financing despite having a low carbon footprint and suffering disproportionately from climate change. It urged rich countries to meet and expand climate pledges, and said poor countries should be able to develop economically while receiving more funds to adapt to the impact of climate change. The document stressed "the need to avoid approaches that encourage abrupt disinvestments from fossil fuels, as this will... threaten Africa's development". Role of gas in energy transition The role of gas in the transition to cleaner energy is set to be a key point of contention at COP27. Climate activists say it needs to be quickly phased out and replaced with renewables. Nigerian finance minister Zainab Ahmed told the Cairo forum that gas was a matter of survival for her country. "If we are not getting reasonably-priced finance to develop gas, we are denying the citizens in our countries the opportunities to attain basic development," she said. The communique also called for focusing on climate change in a review of multilateral development banks and international financial institutions. It suggested the creation of a sustainable sovereign debt hub that could reduce the cost of capital for developing states and support debt-for-nature swaps. Funding hindered Experts say there is private as well as public sector appetite for financing and investing in climate projects in Africa, but funding is hindered for reasons including risk perception, underdeveloped green finance markets, and local technical and policy constraints. States have seen their cost of borrowing rise due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. "This is keeping us up at night – how to decrease the cost of borrowing," Egypt's deputy finance minister Sherine El Sharkawy told the forum. Kevin Chika Urama, chief economist at the African Development Bank, said Africa faced a climate financing gap of about $108bn each year. "Climate finance structure today is actually biased against climate-vulnerable countries. The more vulnerable you are the less climate finance you receive," he said. All rights reserved. © 2022. Bizcommunity.com Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). Aidan Lewis Reuters Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world's largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. https://www.reuters.com/

African nations push for more climate finance ahead of COP27

DISCOVER MORE

Ethiopia appoints senior TPLF official as head of Tigray interim govt

Uganda says expects debt load to go on "declining trend," growth to hit 7%

South Africa Feb consumer inflation higher than forecast at 7.0% y/y

'Uncharted territory': South Sudan's four years of flooding

African smallholder farmers count the cost of fertilizer price spike

Ethiopia says US warcrime allegations 'inflammatory', 'partisan'

Somalia's drought killed 43,000 last year, half under five

Nigerian ruling party keeps powerful Lagos post after tense local polls

GCC central banks track US Fed move; hike key rates by 25bps

VIDEO: LSE-listing will facilitate more funding opportunities for us, Dar Global CEO

Dubai's Meraas to build new residential towers in Design District

Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, Ares set up $1bln JV to invest in credit secondaries

Egypt to get $7bln in funding as World Bank approves new development framework

LATEST VIDEO

VIDEO: LSE-listing will facilitate more funding opportunities for us, Dar Global CEO

ZAWYA COVERAGE

UAE exchange firm Al Ansari upsizes IPO on strong investor demand

Dubai's Emirates expands training fleet with $4.3mln aircraft order

2 African development banks invest $16bln in oil, gas projects

Global trade set to stagnate in H1 2023 after hitting a record $32trln last year

'I was on the brink of a heart attack': How smartwatch saved UAE resident's life

Can you walk 1 billion steps? Dubai authority announces new challenge for Ramadan

China's says it again drove away U.S. warship in South China Sea

Philippines, China say to address maritime issues peacefully

Ramadan in Dubai: RTA to distribute 40,000 free meals, 500 nol cards this holy month

THE BRI REPORT

China is reshaping the Belt and Road Initiative ahead of a post-pandemic era

DISCOVER MORE

LATEST VIDEO

ZAWYA NEWSLETTERS

ZAWYA COVERAGE