Africa battles EU ‘delaying tactics’ at COP31 over $120bn climate adaptation lifeline

详细摘要

While the African Group, which includes South Africa, has kept a R120-billion climate adaptation pledge on the table, negotiators and civil society warn that developed nations,…

While the African Group, which includes South Africa, has kept a R120-billion climate adaptation pledge on the table, negotiators and civil society warn that developed nations, led by the EU, are using ‘delaying tactics’ to dodge specifics on how and when the money will actually be paid.

The fight to triple adaptation finance from $40-billion per year to at least $120-billion annually is turning into a fertile battlefield at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), as developed nations continue to push back against African demands for concrete delivery plans.

The standoff follows an effort by wealthy nations, led by the European Union, to block the tripling of adaptation finance from being adopted on the formal summit agenda on Monday. While the issue was initially absorbed into broader discussions on climate finance and the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), fierce behind-the-scenes lobbying pushed it back into the draft cover decision by Friday, 14 November.

Speaking to Daily Maverick on the sidelines of the South African Pavilion, Environment Minister David Maynier credited fierce behind-the-scenes negotiations by South Africa’s chief negotiator, Maesela Kekana, alongside the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and the BASIC bloc (Brazil, South Africa, India and China), for keeping the issue alive.

The technical negotiations have come to a close, and the COP31 presidency released its reflections on the cover decision, an overarching political summary that wraps together the main goals, values and high-level messages from the first week of negotiations.

Tripling adaptation finance made it onto the draft cover decision, highlighting the issue raised by developing nations on Monday, and returned to the agenda in some form by Friday, 14 November.

“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work being done by our chief negotiator, Maesela Kekana, working in consort obviously with the African group and of course the Basic Group.

While this shows some promise, it’s important to pay…

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