Climate advocates from ActionAid have on the opening day of COP29 issued a call to Global North countries, urging them to commit to significant climate finance to assist vulnerable nations with the costs of adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage.
The appeal comes as climate-related disasters intensify, disproportionately affecting communities across the Global South.
“COP29 is about the new climate finance goal to unlock climate action in the Global South. Without finance, talk about climate action will remain just that – talk. They say there is no such thing as a free lunch – well there’s no such thing as a free climate target either. If we’re serious about climate action, we have to pay for climate action.” said Teresa Anderson, Global Climate Justice Lead at ActionAid.
Anderson highlighted the urgency for a robust financial commitment, warning that failing to provide adequate funding would only worsen the climate crisis for poorer nations.
“Sticking the Global South with an escalating climate bill is not only unfair, it’s a recipe for certain planetary breakdown. This is why climate-hit countries desperately need COP29 to agree on a new climate finance goal that delivers real worth – trillions of dollars in grants each year,” she said.
According to ActionAid, the annual contributions from wealthy countries fall far short of what is needed, underscoring this with a stark comparison: in 2022, these nations contributed only $28-35 billion in grants, while global ice cream spending amounted to $71 billion.
“We can’t avert planetary meltdown by spending less on climate finance than we spend on ice cream.” Anderson added
For communities like Kalapara in Southern Bangladesh, the stakes are incredibly high. Mosammat Dulali, a community member, described the worsening cycle of disasters her region has faced since 2007.
“In my childhood, I didn’t witness disasters as severe as those in recent years… Just this year alone, we’ve experienced four cyclones. My community is overwhelmed by various problems like houses collapsing, lands submerging, and loss of livelihoods, along with the deaths of livestock, women, and children,” Dulali said.
The effects on agriculture are devastating, with tidal surges from cyclones increasing soil salinity and reducing crop yields.
“In our region, we used to produce a good variety of winter crops, especially lentils and watermelons, and were self-sufficient, but now we can’t,” Dulali added, pointing to a steady decline in food security and nutrition as the fish population in rivers and seas also dwindles.
In Somaliland, the humanitarian impacts of climate change are compounded by severe gendered challenges, noted Nura Ahmed Mohamed, ActionAid’s Country Program Manager.
“In Somaliland, climate change is more than an environmental crisis – it’s a humanitarian disaster with severe gendered impacts. Women are often the first responders in their communities, taking on roles in caregiving, food production, and managing natural resources,” Mohamed said
Extreme weather events exacerbate food shortages and income losses, pushing families into harmful coping mechanisms like child marriage, which disrupts education for girls.
ActionAid’s Executive Director in Australia, Michelle Higelin, highlighted Australia’s role in supporting Pacific nations, many of which are on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
“Australia often talks about supporting our Pacific neighbours to respond to the climate crisis – now is the time to put that solidarity into action,” she said, stressing that the new climate finance goal is the most important agreement since the Paris Agreement and holds the power to shape the futures of millions,” Higelin said
As co-chair of COP29 negotiations, Australian Minister Chris Bowen has a unique responsibility, Higelin said, calling on Australia to lead with “real money on the table” and ensure that the climate finance goal targets USD 1 trillion annually.
“Pacific Island countries have contributed almost nothing to a crisis that is now threatening their very survival. If Australia wants to show it is a committed member of the Pacific family, it must put real money on the table and ensure delivery of an annual USD 1 trillion climate finance goal,” he noted.
